Friday, March 8, 2013

International Women's Day


Seeing as it is International Women's Day today, here is a list of films for women and about women that should be watched and enjoyed today:-


Better Than Chocolate
Better Than Chocolate (1999)

A beautiful Canadian film about a lesbian activist bookshop and two of it's clients that fall in love.  A fun and playful film about women in love that is exciting for women without being too sexy for the male audience. 









A Question of Silence (1982)

An incredibly hard to find Dutch film about a trio of women who have never met who decide to team up and kill a man in a department store and face trial together as an act of solidarity.  An incredible feminist masterpiece that is dangerously underrated.












Fish Tank (2009)

An incredibly tense portrayal of life on a London council estate featuring an incredible central performance from the previously unknown Katie Jarvis.  A brilliant insight into ambition and circumstance for young women.  Tragic but bold.











We Need To Talk About Kevin (2011)

Tilda Swinton is one of my favourite actors.  She  has made so many interesting decisions in her career and I feel that it is criminal that she wasn't oscar-nominated for this performance.  She plays Eva, a mother who has raised the demon son Kevin who plans a horrific act of violence.  The way in which the film questions the motive of Kevin and whether Eva could have done more to stop him is heartbreaking:  An amazing presentation of motherhood and the limitation of women's ambitions in contemporary society.






Lilya 4-Ever (2002)

The heartbreaking story of Lilya, an Estonian girl whose mother has migrated to America and left her behind.  She is left to fend for herself until she meets a Swedish man who offers her a route to a better life.  Although incredibly hard to watch, this is the kind of film that needs to be seen on such an important day as today.  A truly political film that is beautiful and abhorrent simultaneously.








Clueless (1995)

Just so this list isn't too depressing, I have included my all time favourite film.  Although on the surface this is a teen Rom-Com with nothing to say about feminism or women's rights, the film contains an important satirical message about vanity and ignorance.  And even if it doesn't - I just f*cking love it...

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