La Vérité (1960) Could Bardot act? Henri-Georges Clouzot slapped her to find out, and she slapped him back. In this courtroom drama, with flashbacks, designed to savage the pomposity of the judicial system, compassion and cruelty, good and evil reside in all human relationships. But who is on trial here? Is it sex kitten Bardot, … More La Vérité (1960)
Daughters of the Dust (1991) Thanks to Public Broadcasting, Julie Dash managed to raise minimal funding for this innovative, powerful evocation of three generations of free black women in the Peazant family who live on an island off the coast of Georgia. Narrated from the point of view of the Unborn Child, and spoken in … More Daughters of the Dust (1991)
Meshes of the Afternoon (1943) Maya Deren broke through the glass ceiling to create this significant surreal statement of women’s consciousness during the conformist forties and fifties. As the Museum of Modern Art has indicated, “A non-narrative work, it has been identified as a key example of the ‘trance film,’ in which a protagonist appears … More Meshes of the Afternoon
The Bride (1985) Can a male scientist create a woman “as bold and proud as a man. A woman equal to ourselves.” What a chauvinistic question, especially when the man christens his perfect woman “Eva,” after Genesis. Designed, I suspect, as a vanity project either for Sting or for Jennifer Beals, the screenwriter Lloyd Fonvielle … More The Bride (1985)
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (1988) Carmen Maura gives a defining performance in Pedro Almodóvar’s Spanish screwball comedy. Inspired by Jean Cocteau’s La Voix Humaine, the film reveals a ‘new woman’ of the Post-Franco generation, someone who, like Pepa, caught in a whirlwind of passionate breakup, takes control of her life, and, … More Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (1988)
Frida (2002) “In the aftermath of the Mexican Revolution, the country’s artists forged a new painterly vocabulary, which fused European modernism with local folkloric traditions, and became a global phenomenon.” After years of problems getting this screenplay produced, Julie Taymor was hired to direct this biopic based on a biography of Frida Kahlo. Selma Hayek … More Frida (2002)
Foxy Brown (1974) Jack Hill wrote and directed Pam Grier in this classic blaxploitation film about a woman who takes revenge on the mobsters who murdered her man. “Well who’s black and what is a black person?” – Pam Grier Beneath all the pop pizzazz, Jack Hill channels Baldwin’s The Fire Next Time … More Foxy Brown (1974)
SPACESHIP 