Ten more leading ladies behind the camera for you now as we continue our 50 Films Made By Women. We go back ninety years, We explore actresses changing roles in the profession, fiction and non-fiction. In no particular order, but each one with a particular style or focus as directors.
Monster (2003) – Patty Jenkins — Jonathan Holmes
What most people seem to remember about this true story on the real-life murders of Aileen Wuornos goes like this: ‘The hot chick from The Italian Job got ugly and won an Oscar for it,’ which couldn’t be any further from the truth. Yes, Charlize Theorn gained weight in order to portray the lead character, but she, and writer/director Patty Jenkins go further: they make us feel sympathy for this lost soul. She finds love in Selby Wall (Christina Ricci) and tries to leave the prostitution game, but due to her past history, can’t find a steady job and out of a misplaced sense of fear that her male clients will rape her, brutally murders them and robs them. Everyone who’s seen this film has pretty much said it all about Theorn’s portrayal of the serial killer, but to add on here: it’s right there alongside Daniel Day Lewis as Danile Plainview and Heath Ledger’s Joker as one of the best performances of the 00’s. Her commitment to the role and to find the humanity of a person that kills and steals is a miracle onto itself.
Wendy and Lucy (2008) – Kelly Reichardt — Steve Schweighofer
Kelly Reichardt will never be accused of being frivolous in her filmmaking. Her films all have an existential nature and her conscious avoidance of the two biggest money-making devices in movies today, sex and violence, ensures that she will never direct a tentpole and may not even enter the mainstream. Reichardt has been quoted, saying “My films are just glimpses of people passing through,” and none are more simple, poignant or real than Wendy and Lucy. What makes this film so special is its unsentimental honesty about homelessness and sacrifice told through the exploration of the bond between a woman, Wendy, and her dog, Lucy. It’s not the downer one would expect; but neither is it a phony Disney sob-fest. Reichardt, and a brilliant performance by Michelle Williams, walk us gently through a particular chapter in the journey of a young woman making her way through the pitfalls of poverty and alienation, then give us a satisfying and unselfish conclusion. Nature and environment serve as both antagonist and shelter-giver – a character that presents challenges while at the same time providing comfort. The same can be said for Reichardt’s films. She claims that she treats each film as if it is her last. One only hopes that this does not become a fact for many years from now.
Wadjda (2013) – Haifaa al-Mansour — Asif Khan
Winning prizes at Venice film festival, being the first Saudi Arabian foreign language Oscar entry, the first feature to be entirely shot in Saudi Arabia and the most important of all, first feature-length film by a female director from the country. Wadjda is the feature debut of filmmaker Haifaa al-Mansour, her 2013 breakthrough introduced her voice to the world from a distinct place in the world where cinema technically doesn’t exist. Challenging the notions and limitations her culture has put down upon her, she made a thoroughly warm-hearted and maturely handled film. Inspired by the neorealist cinema, Wadjda is the story of an 11-year-old girl whose desire is to own a bicycle that she sees in a store everyday on route to her school. Riding bicycles isn’t allowed for girls hence her mother refuses to buy it for her. Wadjda tries her best to save money via selling things she makes, like mix-tapes or bracelets. She eventually participates in a Quran recital competition hoping to win the cash prize and hence buy the bicycle. Filmed on the streets of SA (al-Mansour would film it through the back of the van or interacting with the crew via walkie-talkie), Wadjda packs realism without resolving to being a standard issue film. A film that carries themes of freedom and fear of emotional abandonment side by side, making for a bittersweet experience. The final sequence will have you quietly cheering, a simple moment that overwhelms.
The Smiling Madame Beudet (1923) – Germaine Dulac — Desirae Embree
Germaine Dulac’s silent picture The Smiling Madame Beudet is a psychological study of the domestic dramas that lie behind the mannerly, tranquil exteriors of bourgeois homes. Largely considered the first overtly feminist film, Madame Beudet prefigures the famous “problem with no name” that galvanized the incipient women’s movement in the 1960s. Madame Beudet is the intelligent, imaginative wife of a crass and boorish husband. The monotony of her hours are filled with daydreams about the male models in magazine advertisements and interrupted by only two daily occurrences: the arrival of the mail and her husband’s “comedic” threat of suicide by revolver. Through her skillful employment of staple surrealist techniques, Dulac gives real presence to the interior life of her heroine. Germaine Dermoz’s subtle acting as Madame Beudet is beautifully set off by Dulac’s ability to pick her out of room with careful spotlighting. The result is a mounting sense of the heroine’s isolation and its deadly consequences. Viewers will notice this film prefigures modern classics of domestic anxiety like American Beauty, though one should not be too quick to read it as the simple marriage-murder plot. Its surprise ending is perhaps even darker and more fatalistic than that to which the contemporary audience is accustomed.
Whip It (2009) – Drew Barrymore — Al Robinson
In the movie Whip It, high school student Bliss Cavendar, played by Ellen Page, decides she doesn’t want to compete in beauty pageants like her mother wants her too, but instead wants some adventure in her life. One night out in the big city of Austin, she sees a roller-derby game. Bliss decides to try out for a spot on the Hurl Scouts team, and makes it. She also meets a guy named Oliver and falls hard for him. This film was written by Shauna Cross, who much like Gillian Flynn did 5 years later with Gone Girl, adapted the screenplay from her own book, titled “Derby Girl”. I think she did a great job because the film is filled with quick wit, and interesting characters. It’s also good with the humor, with great lines such as “but you don’t have the balls. / I can grow the balls”. What really makes this film great though is what director Drew Barrymore brought to it. She told a story about women, tough women full of bravado and spirit. The only thing I would have changed was to take the character Kristen Wiig plays, and make her the team’s coach. She would have been great in that role.
Originally published August 2015.