No. 10 (2023) WOMEN TALKING 9th Feb.

 

Film No. 10 (2023)  February 9th.  6:40 AM  PALACE Cinema 6,  Raine Square,  Perth City.

"Where I come from, where your mother comes from, we didn't talk about our bodies. We were given 2 days to forgive the attackers before they returned" (The ominous reflection of one of the women of the community where abuse of women was simply an "acceptable" right of their men).

WINNER:  MOVIE OF THE YEAR (Sarah Polley)  AFI Awards U.S.  NOMINEE:  BEST ADAPTED SCREEN PLAY (Sarah Polley, Miriam Toews) & BEST FILM ;  Academy Awards 2023.

Sarah Polley (STORIES WE TELL, AWAY FROM HER) commands a real respect for the emotional power she injects into all her directorial work. At 26 she was first nominated for a Screen Adaptation Oscar (AWAY FROM HER). 18 years on and she is in waiting. This time with TALKING WOMEN, her 2nd adaptation nomination. Presently, she is favoured to lift the small gold statuette later this month. The film is a triumph. She will deserve the gong if the Academy so decides.

To adapt a script there needs to be an original story. Miriam Toews wrote the novel of the same name, based on true events. Heinous crimes committed against women and girls in a small Mennonite community in Bolivia. I've not read Toews text. She contributes also to this screenplay.

This humble blog can only dust over the complexities that exist under the crust of this important film. A film which gathers these Mennonite women together to decide on their and their children's future. They either stay and fight, leave, or do nothing. There is not a perpetrator in sight. The only man in frame, August (Ben Whishaw) takes the minutes of this meeting, held in chapters over 24 hours. It's all the time they have to decide what to do. The men are gathering legal council for the charges being brought against them.

For most of us, their discussions, presenting the pro's and con's of leaving or staying represent a "no-brainer" decision. Who stays anywhere knowing that violence and sexual terrorism will continue as a part of life? But what if where they are is all they have known and there is no where else to go? We soon have empathy and understanding for the predicament of these women. We too, soon boil with the same anger these women are festering.

Polley has a reputation for producing, heart-felt, legitimate cinema. With that comes actors screaming to be part of her creations. Jesse Buckley, Rooney Mara, Clare Foy, Frances McDermont, Judith Ivey and Ben Whishaw to name a few, bring Women Talking into the hearts and minds of audiences. The Polley magic is possibly best summed up by the use of Whishaw (August), the sole, adult male character here. The power of his presence in the final moments brings hope. The kind of hope we wish for all who have tugged on our emotions for the last 104 mins.   11GUMS.