No. 99 (2022) SHE SAID Nov. 27th.

 

Film No. 98  (2022)  November 27th.  4:40 PM  HOYTS CINEMAS, Cine 4   Karrinyup.

"The case I made was, I can't change what happened to you in the past, but together we may be able to help protect other people" (Twohey explains to Kantor her technique for trying to get victims to discuss their experiences and go on the record).

Winner : Truth in Non-Fiction Film Making, (Maria Schrader)  Montclair Film Festival 2022.

Films of the calibre of SPOTLIGHT and ALL THE PRESIDENT'S MEN have inspired journalists from all mediums to seek the truth where injustice stands in the shadows. SHE SAID, a film made with similar competence, maintains the rage. Hopefully it will inspire a new breed of courageous people to uncover truth where cover-ups reign.

Carey Mulligan and Zoe Kazan play New York Times journalists Megan Twohey and Jodi Kantor, who, together, broke the story which eventually led to Harvey Weinstein being jailed for multiple years. Weinstein was a sexual predator of extraordinary proportions. SHE SAID is a two hour character study of Twohey and Kazan, everyday mothers and wives, ordinary people completing an exceptional professional feat. To read the 2017 article, post film, gave me a greater sense of admiration for our heroes; not to mention the thoroughness shown by the film-makers.

Director Maria Schrader (I'M YOUR MAN, UNORTHODOX) in just her 4th feature continues with her strength; story through a relationship. Two ordinary people expose the scandal of a decade via determination and bloody-mindedness. The poster says it all. Schrader massages our combined moral consciousnesses through meticulous direction; Mulligan and Kazan are putty in her hands.

THE ASSISTANT and BOMBSHELL precede SHE SAID. They each deal with similar themes. In different ways they expose outrageous behaviour. The behaviour comes about because entitled men, in positions of power, behave atrociously. Comprehending that power leads to understanding the difficulty victims have with going on the record. 

Dean Baquet (Andre Braugher)  and Rebecca Corbett (Patricia Clarkson) were the secure planks that Twohey and Kazan could step along as they build their self belief while treading their own minefield prior to publishing. SHE SAID is quite simply, an important film that happens to be a good flick.  10GUMS.