Two of the finest romantic comedies coming up to feast on. Speaking of appetite, there’s also a cannibalistic tale in the mix. So fulfill your hunger for female directed films by reading on.
Enough Said (2013) – Nicole Holofcener — Asif Khan
For the fans of Sundance dramedies, Holofcener requires no introduction. She has made her name making very competent character studies by focusing purely on how the people who populate her films live their life at every turn and not solely juggling conflicts to define them by. Enough Said is the 2013 romantic comedy that has such natural flow of dialogues and conversations between characters that it seems you are watching real people talk instead of characters or actors in a movie. Eva (played by Julia Louis-Dreyfus in a genuine, charming performance) is a masseuse and divorced mother of a teenage girl. She meets a man, also divorced and with a daughter named Albert (James Gandolfini – so vulnerable) at a party and they both begin to take liking in each other during days following their meeting. Eva’s clients have lots of problems but she does her work to the best of her ability and patience. She is friends with a married couple, makes friends with one of her clients, a poet named Marianne (director’s regular – Catherine Keener). Her daughter’s graduation and the subsequent moving away for college is something of an impending doom for Eva, who wonders what her life would be like after that. This dear but grounded romantic comedy beautifully carries both those parts or rather aspects of the story. There is a serious discovery involved later in the film that threatens the balance of Eva and Albert’s life. Packed with tenderness and wisdom, Enough Said is romantic comedy to end the so-called romantic comedies of the past many years. Other films by Holofcener includes Please Give, Lovely & Amazing, Walking and Talking and Friends with Money.
Unbroken (2014) – Angelina Jolie — Al Robinson
Unbroken is a film that most people were highly anticipating last year, but when they finally saw it, were not that impressed. One of the main criticisms was that it left out a big part of Louis Zamperini’s life. Louis Zamperini was an American soldier and former Olympic runner who was shot down over the Pacific Ocean by the Japanese during World War II in 1943. He survived 47 days stranded at sea on a raft, only to be taken prisoner of war by the Japanese soldiers. He was put in a prison camp where he survived until the end of the war, when he was set free. What was left out of the film was what Louis went through after he came home. My thoughts on why the film worked was that Angelina Jolie directed a film that told a story of survival, and if what happened afterwards was added, it would have changed the whole message of the film. Angelina had met with Louis before he passed away last year, and he gave her his approval. Ultimately if Louis liked it, that’s good enough for me.
Midwife to the Upper Classes (1902) – Alice Guy-Blaché — Desirae Embree
Midwife to the Upper Classes is the story of a young, bourgeois couple of discriminating tastes. The film follows them in their attempts to purchase the perfect baby from their local midwife, which proves no small feat. Like most early films, this one features a deceptively simple narrative under-girded by complex social commentary and decorated with whimsical mise-en-scène. The result is half satire, half fairy-tale – all fun. While Guy treats the film’s anxieties with a light touch, they will resonate with the contemporary viewer nonetheless. The couple’s revilement at being offered a Black baby, the undertone of contempt for engineered parenthood, and the subtle lampooning of upper-class privilege all prefigure the racial, economic, and sexual revolutions that would followed the rapid technological advancement of the era. Midwife also stands as an early example of the film remake, as it was based on Guy’s 1897 directorial debut The Cabbage Fairy. Both films show a unique commitment to the cinematic treatment of women’s experience that is perhaps Guy’s most important and lasting contribution to early film history. Like many of her films, Midwife to Upper Classes is available on YouTube, and remains a powerful example of the singular delights offered by the work of early cinema’s female pioneers.
Bright Star (2009) – Jane Campion — Jade Evans
Feminist filmmaker Jane Campion follows the success of her previously directed costume films The Piano (1993) and The Portrait of a Lady (1996) with Bright Star (2009). This glorious biographical focus on Romantic poet John Keats is a dream-like, sunlit poem in itself. As Campion draws the viewer into the story, in true Romantic tradition, the tale of John Keats and his muse Fanny Brawne is reflected in the idealistic backdrop. From the neutral shades of brown and blue present throughout the house at the start, John and Fanny become closer as his spool of poetic prose achieves its purpose in winning her heart. Campion projects their developing romance in the saturated shades of purple and green in the beds of bright flowers and the woodland paths. Much like nature, which provides us with bright blossoms that wither and die, so does Bright Star’s imagery transition into shades of white, grey and black as winter falls. Campion’s stark contrast in color conveys Fanny leaving her idealized fantasy of her childhood and experiencing the bleak realism and melancholy of her adulthood. Every image in the film is a work of art and is a testament to Campion’s strong eye for detail and love of artistic imagery.
Firaaq (2008) – Nandita Das — Asif Khan
Firaaq is the directorial debut of the prominent Indian actress, Nandita Das. She has worked in many acclaimed, multilingual films and won awards from around the world. Das has continuously advocated for human rights, gender equality and taken public stances against many social injustices. Hardly a surprise that she would make a film around one of the biggest problems that India has faced. Violence against minorities. Firaaq is a Hindi political thriller rooted in much more realism and a sense of narrative importance that is not often seen in movies there. A fictional film set a month after the horrific 2002 violence in Gujarat against Muslims. Aptly titled Firaaq, which means quest as well as difference. Difference of religion, values and perspective. Quest for tolerance, acceptance and belonging. This is a film that stands for the many true stories, unspoken, forgotten or never really given acute focus. A great ensemble (featuring some of the most talented actors), the characters in the film are either victims of violence or assault, the perpetrators and those who watched all of this silently without doing anything. It’s a well-written and focused film with dramatic tension that rarely goes into the melodramatic or problematic territory. Das’ competent and well-edited feature is the story of ordinary people affected by violence.
Originally posted August 2015.