Tag: patriarchy

YOUNG WOMAN AND THE SEA – Review

Daisy Ridley as Trudy Ederle in Disney’s live-action YOUNG WOMAN AND THE SEA. Photo courtesy of Disney. © 2024 Disney Enterprises Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Daisy Ridley stars as Trudy Ederle, the first woman to successfully swim the English Channel, in the inspiring, true story-based YOUNG WOMAN AND THE SEA. Today, few know of Trudy Ederle and her accomplishments but this uplifting film may change that. At the time of her swim in 1926, it was said that women couldn’t swim the notoriously difficult, storm-tossed 21-mile stretch of water separating England and France, but the 19-year-old American swimmer, the daughter of German immigrant parents, proved them wrong – and bested the men’s record by more than 3 hours.

YOUNG WOMAN AND THE SEA is a Disney film, based on Glenn Stout’s 2009 book “Young Woman and the Sea: How Trudy Ederle Conquered the English Channel and Inspired the World,” is a must-see for families with daughters interested in sports and especially swimming. The gripping, inspiring scenes swimming the Channel are worth the ticket price alone.

Gertrude “Trudy” Ederle was born in 1905 in New York, to poor German immigrant parents, at a time when there was a lot of prejudice against German immigrants, something that was heightened by World War I. We meet the family when Trudy is a child suffering with a severe case of measles, so severe that she is not expected to live. But survive she does, and then goes on use that will to survive in her career in sports.

In the early 20th century, women had few rights and faced many restrictions imposed by male-dominated society, but women also were fighting for the vote and pushing the boundaries of those restrictions. However, all Trudy’s mother Gertrude (Jeanette Hain) wanted was for Trudy and her sister Meg (Tilda Cobham-Hervey) to learn to swim, even thought is was thought unsuitable for girls and possibly harmful to their bodies. Like most men of the era, Trudy’s father Henry (Kim Bodnia) thought women should only be wives and mothers, and anything else was laughable. But Trudy’s mother, whose sister drown as a child, was just as strong-willed as her daughter, and insisted that both girls learn to swim as well as their younger brother. Dad gives permission for his daughter Meg to have swimming lessons but refuses to let Trudy go – until Trudy badgers him into it, relentlessly singing the song “Ain’t We Got Fun” until he agrees.

Even with her father’s permission, Trudy faces a new barrier. She may have survived measles but she is denied entry to swimming lessons because it was thought that it might cause her to lose her hearing, a concern that did have some basis. So, Trudy’s father teaches her to swim, at the pier on Coney Island, where Trudy reveals she has a natural gift in the water. Soon, she and her sister are winning contests swimming around the pier. The sisters bond over swimming and when they decide to join one of the first girls’ swim teams, coached by the ground-breaking Charlotte “Eppy” Epstein ( a wonderful Sian Clifford), Trudy again must prove herself just to get in the pool. Her talent and hard work earn her a spot at the Olympics on the first American women’s team to go to them.

In the early 1920s there is great craze for all kinds of athletic accomplishments, including swimming the English Channel, a notoriously difficult and dangerous swim, beset by storms, changeable currents as well as sharks and jellyfish. Many have tried and few had made it. Only five men have succeeded, including the colorful Bill Burgess (Stephen Graham), and it is thought that no woman could do it. Of course, Trudy wants to prove that wrong.

Daisy Ridley is splendid as Trudy, and hopefully this role will go away towards lifting the actor’s profile with audiences and casting directors. While the film isn’t always perfect, she generally is, playing a truly winning version of this amazing, courageous young woman athlete, someone who should be better known than she is now. The rest of the cast are good as well, with particular standouts being Tilda Cobham-Hervey as her sister, Jeanette Hain as Trudy’s strong-willed but tight-lipped mother, and Stephen Graham as the eccentric champion swimmer Bill Burgess. In smaller roles, Sian Clifford is striking as coach Epstein, and Alexander Karim as another would-be Channel swimmer Benji Zammit.

YOUNG WOMAN AND THE SEA is a Disney movie, and while it is still a worthy family film and great for young female athletes, it has some Disney-fying. It puts a great deal of emphasis on Trudy’s close relationship with her sister, and also on the patriarchy that weighed heavily on their lives, and spends little time showing Trudy training or working with her coach Eppy Epstein. The film showcases Trudy’s relentless determination, but her relationships with her sister and her family, while sweet, is kept more on the surface. An overly-emotional, excessively-loud and obvious score comes on too strong at times, overwhelming any real feeling the audience might have, and is the film’s biggest flaw.

The film focuses quite a bit on the father’s plan to arrange marriages for his daughters, and her sister’s acquiescence. The film accurately portrays the oppressive patriarchy of the time, and many things that seem unreal now – like the belief that exercise was harmful to women’s bodies and their inability to do certain things – were very real then, although these prejudices were often reinforced by men making sure they were the case. Still, a number of men in the story are crafted into one-note villains, given larger roles as a way to simplify that, particularly James Sullivan (Glenn Fleshler) and coach Jabez Wolffe (Christopher Eccleston), who attempted the Channel swim 22 times without success and may actually have wanted Trudy to fail.

This is an inspiring true story but the film itself plays loose with some of the facts, which is really unnecessary considering Ederle’s very impressive real accomplishments as a champion swimmer and Olympian. The film downplays some of her accomplishments, failed to mention her gold medal as part of the relay and only talks about her individual bronze medals. The film also reduces the real role her coach Epstein played in her accomplishment, instead elevating some male figures to play a larger role as villains. The film puts emphasis on the very real barriers and discrimination women faced in sports and life, in the early 20th century, but less on Trudy Ederle’s success in smashing through them. Another odd thing is the repeated refrain that she survived measles, at a time when it was a common childhood disease (there was no vaccine until 1963) that most people between the ages of 5 and 20 survived. Trudy was one of those who had a more serious case but saying “she survived measles” would have been met with a lot of “so did I” back then.

Still the film really excels and reaches its highest point, when it gets to swimming the channel. The dramatic seascapes energize the film and the focus is finally truly on the young woman and the sea. Daisy Ridley gets to really shine here. Swimming the channel is a thrilling sequence, with the feel of authenticity. Stephen Graham comes to the fore as the eccentric Bill Burgess, one of five male swimmers to have already conquered the Channel, but who steps forward to help Trudy in her quest.

YOUNG WOMAN AND THE SEA is an inspiring true-story sports movie that is highly recommended for girls and young women and for families, with thrilling scenes of the Channel swim itself and a chance to get to know something about an American champion swimmer who deserves to be better known – Trudy Ederle, the first woman to swim the English Channel.

YOUNG WOMAN AND THE SEA opens Friday, May 31, in theaters.

RATING: 3 out of 4 stars

YOUNG WOMAN AND THE SEA – © 2024 Disney Enterprises, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

WOMEN TALKING – Review

(l-r) Rooney Mara stars as Ona, Claire Foy as Salome, Judith Ivey as Agata, Sheila McCarthy as Greta, Michelle McLeod as Mejal and Jessie Buckley as Mariche, in director Sarah Polley’s film WOMEN TALKING. An Orion Pictures Release. Photo credit: Michael Gibson. © 2022 Orion Releasing LLC. All Rights Reserved.

There is a lot of talk about WOMEN TALKING – awards talk. The title of this electrifying ensemble drama may suggest something tame but the fiery WOMEN TALKING is no polite, quiet chat but a deep, sarcastic, no-holds-barred, even funny, and thought-provoking discussion among a group of Mennonite women who are meeting secretly in a barn to talk about what to do after a series of brutal attacks on them.

Women in the colony have been waking up beaten, bloody and in pain, with no memory of what had happened. The men tell them they are being attacked by the devil, or maybe it is just “wild feminine imagination.” Until they catch an attacker – and discover it is men in their own colony who have been drugging and raping women in the night.

A brilliant ensemble cast is at the heart of this amazing drama, a cast that includes Frances McDormand, Rooney Mara, Jessie Buckley, Claire Foy, and Judith Ivey, who fire-up director Sarah Polley’s screenplay. The screenplay is based on Miriam Toews’ novel, which in turn was based on real events that took place in a Mennonite community in Bolivia. Toews herself grew up in a Mennonite community, in Canada, which she left in her late teens, which gives her a deeper understanding of this community, But what transpires in this film goes well beyond this conservative religious community, offering a universal message on women’s rights and place in human society.

This is a fascinating, intelligent and engrossing drama, with deeply thought-provoking discussion among women with more widely differing opinions than we expect. They engage in the kind of electrifying conversation any thinking person would relish listening in on. The women in this restrictive male-dominated community may not have been taught to read or write, but they certainly have sharp brains and sharper tongues, which means this drama is filled with crackling, intelligent dialog. Their hard, practical lives incline them to plain speaking, and their voices get free rein away from men’s ears. Their sometimes-heated discussion includes a range of views, of fears and worries, and of practical matters, but also ranges into the profound, the spiritual, and the philosophical as they contemplate the changes they want for their future.

Waiting until the men have gone to town to bail out the attackers, who have been arrested, the women seize the little time they have to speak plainly and bluntly about what they are going to do. Only one man is present, the school teacher August (Ben Whishaw), an outsider whose mother was expelled from the colony for asking too many questions. August’s only reason for being there is to take the minutes, since the women can’t read or write. The women decide to take a vote on three choices: Do nothing and forgive the men, stay and fight for justice, or leave the colony.

But when the vote results in a tie between staying and fighting or leaving, the women face a ticking clock. They must decide before the men return.

When the vote narrows the women’s choices to two: staying and fighting for their rights or leaving the colony, a group of women directly involved in the attacks are chosen to decide which of the two choices it will be. As it happens, two families are represented. One is led by elder Agata (Judith Ivey), with her daughters Ona (Rooney Mara) and Salome (Claire Foy), and Neitje (Liv McNeil), a niece of Salome. The other is led by elder Greta (Sheila McCarthy), with her daughters Mariche (Jessie Buckley) and Mejal (Michelle McLeod), and Mariche’s daughter Autje (Kate Hallett). Frances McDormand’s character Scarface Janz is the elder of another family, represented the losing option of doing nothing. She and her daughter Anna (Kira Guloien) and granddaughter Helena (Shayla Brown) are included in the early part of the discussion. As an older woman with a widowed daughter and blind granddaughter, Scarface Janz feels the other choices are too a big a risk for her.

While there is violence behind the story, this is not a violent film. The attacks have already taken place before the women gather to talk, but the events are recapped briefly in an opening sequence (meaning one does not want to miss the film’s first few minutes). The attacks are alluded to in periodic flashbacks, but it is handled deftly without showing the violence, just shots with some blood in the aftermath.

The discussion is also not non-stop, broken up by both the flashbacks and glimpses of the world around them, particularly the children playing in the fields outside the barn. Breaks are taken, and there are private conversations. A wonderful score by Hildur Guonadottir also lightens the mood or deepens it. Breaks are taken, and there are private conversations. Cinematographer Luc Montpellier uses desaturated color, which gives that world an old-fashioned, sepia tone look, but one of great beauty as well.The film uses desaturated color, which gives that world an old-fashioned, sepia tone look, but one of great beauty as well. At one point, the outside world intrudes, when a census taker appears, in a comic and rather surreal bit.

Although the women are the main characters, there is one man present in the barn, August (Ben Whishaw) as the boys’ teacher, who is there only to write down what is said, since the women cannot read or write. August is considered an outsider but he is the son of a woman whose was expelled from that colony for asking too many questions. August returned after college, hired to be the colony’s teacher for the boys, but he also returned in part due to his feelings for Ona (Rooney Mara). August’s presence adds some balance to the perspective, representing a gentler kind of man and offering insights when asked about the future of their sons.

The ensemble cast presents a variety of viewpoints, and represent differing ages and concerns that influence those views. The two young girls who caught the attacker are adamant that the men cannot be forgiven, but they are also bored with all the talk, and play and prank as the discussion progresses. Some fear change, others fear their own rage. These deep discussions, often profound, always engrossing, and sometimes emotionally raw, range well beyond just these attacks and the concerns of this conservative religious community. But the discussions are sometimes punctuated with humor, and even with little petty conflicts.

The acting is superb throughout, in the ensemble scenes and more individual ones. Clarie Foy’s Salome and Jessie Buckley’s Mariche often face off, in fiery exchanges where both actresses shine, while the older women are often the peacemakers. Actually, the older actresses, Sheila McCarthy and Judith Ivey, are really the acting standouts, stealing scenes as McCarthy’s bird-like Greta teaches with fables about her two horses, while Ivey’s steady Agata often diffuse conflict by song or reminding the women to take a higher point-of-view.

WOMEN TALKING was inspired by real events, attacks that took place in a Mennonite community in South America, but the film is more universal. This striking drama debuted at the Toronto film festival, and since then, it has garnered both critical acclaim and awards, particularly for its sharp dialog and electrifying ensemble cast, along with strong Oscar buzz.

Don’t be put off by the title or the idea of women talking in a barn. There is plenty of emotional fire, wit, and intelligent discussion on women and society’s treatment of them, global topics for all to consider.

WOMEN TALKING opens Friday, Jan. 20, in theaters.

RATING: 4 out of 4 stars

THE OTHER LAMB – Review

Michiel Huisman as Shepherd in Malgorzata Szumowska’s THE OTHER LAMB. Courtesy of IFC Films. An IFC Films Release.

The surreal horror/drama THE OTHER LAMB centers on a teen-aged girl in a cult led by a man called Shepherd (Dutch actor Michiel Huisman of “Game of Thrones”), who has a striking resemblance to traditional depictions of Jesus. But there is little that is lamb-like in this charismatic autocratic leader of a flock of obedient wives as they live a communal pastoral existence hidden deep in the woods, until their lives are disrupted by an event that send them on a journey with a violent end.

The girl, Selah (Raffey Cassidy), is one of the daughters of the Shepherd, although it is unclear whether they are all his actual offspring. Indeed, Shepherd barely looks old enough to have fathered a teen, much less so many. The “wives” are clad in red or purple and the “daughters” are dressed in blue, but some of the wives look little older than the daughters. And then you notice something odd – all the children are girls, there are no little boys. Actually there are few young children at all, with most of the girls adolescents or pre-adolescent, which seems even more unsettling.

THE OTHER LAMB brings to mind the Charles Manson cult, “The Handmaiden’s Tale,” and MIDSOMMAR among others. The film is beautifully shot, an atmospheric tale that opens with dream-like scene in which Selah, clad in long white robes, is floating in water, an image that evokes Hamlet’s Ophelia. That is a lot of unsettling allusions to pack in, but Polish director Malgorzata Szumowska, making her English-language film debut, is just getting started, in this surreal tale of abuse, misogyny and patriarchy.

Selah has known no other life than the cult, and seems content sharing quarters with her sisters and filling her day doing chores for their simple, pastoral life. The cult occupies in several buildings deep in the woods, with the daughters living in one, the wives in another, and Shepherd in his own. The whole compound covered by an awning of strings. At dinner, the wives and daughters praise and thank Shepherd, who concludes the meal by selecting a wife for the night, asking her if she will receive his grace. On Sunday, the wives and daughters dress in white and listen adoringly while Shepherd gives his sermon in a “church” made of a string box enclosing a clearing among the trees. The sermon is followed by a bloody sacrifice of a lamb.

From the beginning, there is something creepy about Shepherd whenever he speaks to Selah, an unsettling whiff of incestuous interest that is hard to shake. Paired with the film’s frequent nightmarish fantasy sequences, the feeling of unease suffused the drama.

However, THE OTHER LAMB is more a surreal and visually stunning study of the topics it raised than either a plot driven mystery or even a deep exploration of the themes it touches on. Still, it is a haunting film that raises questions about how women are treated in society. It also offers a series of haunting, horrifying images, and tense atmospheric scenes between the gifted cast, although what ultimately happens is not entirely a surprise. The mysterious dream-like images that open the film are followed by a series of other surreal, more nightmarish sequences sprinkled throughout, images just as mysterious as the opening one (is this a baptism or drowning?) but far more disturbing – a skinned lamb, the rotting remains of a bird, and other haunting images.

In addition to its striking photography, fine acting performances are a major strength of this symbolic horror/drama. Time and again, the camera focuses on Raffey Cassidy’s expressive face, shifting from innocent wonder to confusion to fear and rage, as she grapples with her nightmares and her shifting ideas about her faith and her life. Selah’s close relationship with her half-sister Tamar (Ailbhe Cowley) is shaken by Selah’s evolving doubts, and all are shaken by the horrific events that transpire. Denise Gough plays Sarah, one of the older wives who has fallen out of favor with Shepherd and is exiled to a hidden shack. The bitter, sarcastic Sarah has been with the cult from the start, and offers Selah her only insights on the outside world and on her dead mother. Michiel Huisman is brilliant disturbing as Shepherd, veering from posing as a benevolent, protective father figure who dispenses wisdom to something much darker, as his mask slips to reveal the selfish egotist beneath.

THE OTHER LAMB is unsettling to watch, and while it does not explore in depth the topics it raises, its haunting meditation on them and its haunting visuals are enough to keep it in your mind long after the film ends. THE OTHER LAMB debuted April 3 as digital and cable video-on-demand on streaming platforms Amazon Digital, Vudu, Spectrum, Apple TV, Xbox, GooglePlay and others.

RATING: 3 out of 4 stars