I could say it’s a random group of movies, uneven perhaps, yet all with striking messages about women. I wonder if I have gravitated to these flagrantly female-icious films with the subconscious insistence of a soul adrift seeking a recognizable shore.
Whatever the reason, they are clear in one message: Women have come far in a century, though not far enough.
Some of these movies I had seen before, but so many years ago as to blur into sensation rather than instruction. I offer them all as a treasure trove of the worrisome, the winsome and the wise: The Sandpiper (1965), with Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton; The Women (2008), with Meg Ryan and Annette Benning; Hitchcock (2012), with Anthony Hopkins and Helen Mirren; and last but not least, the dizzying and recent reinterpretation of Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina (2012), starring Keira Knightly.
Forming an odd mix, these four films provide a rush of images and impressions, with comparisons that inevitably follow.
The Sandpiper
The most startling of these movies is The Sandpiper, given the year it was made (1965) and the power of its straightforward statements on men, women, and the institution of wedded bliss – declarations I am admittedly cherry-picking, as there are many of note.
Richard Burton plays an officious (long-married) clergyman, headmaster at a school for boys, who has an affair with free-spirited and sensual Taylor whose son attends his school. She leads an unconventional life, is ahead of her time, and in one remarkable scene on a California beach, she and Burton – by now her lover – discuss marriage.
He doesn’t understand why she is against it; the clarity of her response is a revelation, as she says (paraphrased):
A man gets to be a husband, a father, and something else. A doctor, a lawyer; he can still pursue some profession. When a woman gets married, she becomes a wife, a mother, and nothing else.
50 years later, we’re still debating it, grappling with the economic necessities around it, struggling with the logistics of how to structure society to accommodate it; the “it” being this phenomenon of women still trying to make “something else” work.
The Women
The remake of a 1930s classic, The Women, is a pleasure to watch not only as Meg Ryan is very, well… Meg Ryan, but for the performances of a feisty Annette Benning, a deliciously snarky Cloris Leachman, and others in the cast that recreate their characters with humor and delight.
The bottom line in this story?
A well-heeled woman has lost something of herself, despite being the “perfect” wife and mother, with a husband who strays. He is an easy catch for a stunning woman who sets her sights on his fat wallet; the couple separates as the lead character (Meg Ryan) begins a process of reinventing herself.
She goes after a career (with notably few obstacles), proves herself to her daughter, makes herself newly desirable to her spouse, and yes – there’s a Hollywood dénouement. But the point I’d like to make is this, in light of our mythologized multitasking motherly obsessions: As she figures out what she wants for herself and then goes for it – her best friend, a career woman, still scolds her for “not being there” for her daughter.
Do we think anyone is scolding the dad for not being there? Shouldn’t they be? Or admonishing the mother less?
To varying degrees, we may all compromise, sacrifice, even rake ourselves over the coals as we make mistakes and hard choices. Men seem torn, but women could create a profession of the process: women are brutally hard on women; women are brutally hard on themselves.
Anna Karenina
Anna Karenina is a production I found gorgeous (like the star), though dizzying and unsatisfying. The film returns us to Tolstoy’s Imperial Russia, and a time when the men can have mistresses and everyone knows, and the consequences fall only to the mistresses.
In some circumstances, they’re fine. In others, they’re ruined if they belong to a certain echelon in society. And apparently, more so, if they divorce.
Watch any “period” piece recreating the 19th century and welcome to devilish degrees of ruination that accompany unwed motherhood or sexual activity when a woman ventures beyond the marital mattress. The man, on the other hand, is a rake or a scoundrel or simply “a man.”
I bring this film into the mix because the hypocrisy is staggering, at least viewed from a 21st century lens. (I might add that other than cracking his knuckles in annoying fashion, and being a bit of a stiff – at least as depicted in the Hollywood version, my wiser self would counsel Anna to leave Vronsky to other entertainments and work on her relationship with the steadfast husband. A sign of my age, or a flash of wisdom?)
Hitchcock… Are We All Psycho?
Hitchcock may seem an odd addition to this package of pleasures, but most of us are aware of the mystery master’s chilling methods of provoking performance from his coterie of cool and beautiful starlets.
What fascinates me about this film is not only the background on the making of Psycho, but the full awareness of his wife, Alma, and her presence (or dismissal?) in his life.
She is embodied in the extraordinary Helen Mirren, and fleshed out as a woman of considerable skill and talent. We can only imagine her humiliation given her husband’s “passionate” quirks, yet she’s very much a product of her time, depicted as tolerating what she must and tucked into the behind-the-scenes role, though she’s working at her husband’s side in critical collaboration.
And was this also “only” half a century ago?
Women, Women, Women…
Comparatively, women have come far in 50 years, or 80 or 180. We have a voice – or more precisely – many voices, though we may be stymied by a backlash in recent years for reasons that are particularly (and peculiarly) American.
These images and tales on film give me much to ponder. I nonetheless sink into a sing-song refrain, unable to parse their frames or pause for breath, and incapable of landing where I wish to come to grips with a conclusion: How far we’ve come, how far we have to go, how far we’ve come, how far we have to go…
You May Also Enjoy
Image, poster of The Women, Wiki, fair use justification
Image of Keira Knightly, Wiki, attribution Andrea Raffin under Creative Commons 3.0.
Barbara says
What a delicious mix – I’ve not seen two of these (Sandpiper and Hitchcock) but am intrigued now to do so. We do keep moving forward as women and for that I’m grateful. I have two sons and two daughters. I’m aware of both genders as I feel my way through life as a woman, a mother (their mother), a wife, a divorcee, a daughter, a spirit, a money manager, a voice, a power, a gentility, an educator, a student, a sister, an aunt, and now, a grandmother. What am I teaching them? What do I hold onto from my mother? My grandmothers? What do I enjoy because of them? What do I change? One thing I know – I love and champion other women. I recognize their strength. My daughters are so very different and I see the contentment and frustration they both hold with their lives. They’re worlds apart in their “take” on men. I too am very far from having a grip on any kind of conclusion as to how – or why.
BigLittleWolf says
Love your comment, Barbara! So many roles, and so much to consider. I wish that film captured the nuance and simultaneity in all of these, but perhaps as we view a number of perspectives, the kaleidoscopic effect is instructive (and appropriate?) as well.
Try to find The Sandpiper if you can. It’s remarkable in capturing a moment of culture in transition, and Burton and Taylor (as well as Eva Marie Saint) are quite wonderful to watch.
Pam@over50feeling40 says
If it wasn’t for your two mentions, I think I would have avoided Anna Karenina…I wanted to see it when I heard about it and then began to see so many bad reviews. So, thank you , for giving me permission to see it…I can’t wait. One of the reasons I was so sad about the passing of Nora Ephron was the loss of her voice in movies about women. I hope someone picks up her style. I love films featuring strong, yet, enjoyable women.
BigLittleWolf says
If you see Anna Karenina, Pam, I’ll be interested to know your reaction. The costumes – and Keira Knightly – were exceptionally beautiful.
lunaboogie says
I found the original “The Women” to be a fascinating snapshot of the era, and a better movie than the Meg Ryan film.
teamgloria says
The original is astonishing but remarkably the re-make still rings true. #TheWomen
Lovely post.
Marsha @ Splenderosa says
Thank you so much for visiting me and leaving the very intelligent comment on the home sale. I’m following you now, and cannot wait to see what you have to say every day. xx’s
BigLittleWolf says
So glad you’re here, Marsha. And thank you for the kind words!
lisa says
I always find movies that depict the cultural state of women very interesting. I want to see Hitchcock precisely for this reason. I love Helen Mirren and think the movie will shed a lot of light on the back story of their lives. Recently I’ve become a Downton Abby fan and find the cultural mores of that period for both the upstairs and downstairs characters fascinating.
Pamela says
I love that you use movies to discuss our progress as women!! I grew up as a tomboy in the 80s and am horrified that now girls are subject to everything princess. And yet despite my passion for feminism I am married to a man who is in the Navy and I have had to give everything up for his career and lifestyle. It’s maddening and baffling that despite a lifetime as an independent woman I am now a wife and mother and nothing else. I LOVE being a mom and a wife but it’s the nothing else that really pisses me off sometimes. Thank you for this thoughtful piece!
nath says
*sighs and nods and points to* this on gender imbalance.
Wolf Pascoe says
I need to add these to my Netflix list. Especially Hitchcock. I met him once–a perfectly charming and formal gentleman. O, Hollywood, you secret Babylon.
BigLittleWolf says
You met Hitchcock? Yowza! Perfectly charming and formal. Hmmm. One never knows, does one.