Here’s to the Ladies Who Write
THE BLING RING | Sofia Coppola
Bash on Sofia Coppola all you want (actually, don’t, because she’s excellent), but she knows what she wants and she always delivers. While this film retains all of the lavish charms of her former work, she strives to make something far more accessible and satirical here, and that’s something to admire. It may seem at times as though her male character is the centerpiece, but the girls (especially Watson and Chang) are treated to some of the best and most revealing sequences throughout. It’s an entirely different style from the incredibly condensed writing Coppola’s delivered in some former works, but it’s that difference that makes it stand out so much.
WOLF CHILDREN | Mamoru Hosoda & Satoko Okudera
Satoko Okudera, co-writer of all three of Mamoru Hosoda’s last films, is likely one of the biggest reasons why the director has a fascinating track record so far. Each of his films heavily focus on a female character and it likely has something to do with her presence. This work in particular presents a sometimes heart-breaking and often inspiring and entertaining tale of a single mother in one of the least conventional ways possible: with werewolves. It’s fascinating to watch this woman work as hard as she can to raise her children, with echoes of Ozu throughout. It’s one of the most realistic animated films in years, even with a concept as grounded in fantasy as werewolves are.
BEFORE MIDNIGHT | Richard Linklater, Ethan Hawke & Julie Delpy
There’s something about this trilogy that never ceases to amaze me. Delpy, Hawke, and Linklater take great pleasure in the way they present their characters every near-decade and this one is no exception. For the first time though it almost feels as though Delpy had an immense factor in crafting her character, including every big reaction to a little situation that came up. The film comes with a conflicting emotional depth that the others don’t quite present, and while this may simply be personal opinion, a lot of it comes from Delpy’s impressive work.
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Great feature! I can’t believe I left out any mention of the writer in my review of Tabu. Shame on me.
There was a good film from Kenya, Something Necessary (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2400272/), directed by Judy Kibinge. It was broadcast on MUBI on the day of Kenyan nationwide elections.
I wasn’t totally into writer-director Sara Johnsen’s 2012 feature Uskyld (All That Matters is Past, http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2188723/), but I appreciated the acting, aim, and aspects of the atmosphere like the treatment of nature and naturalistic nudity.
The new Hobbit trilogy might not be as great as LOTR, but we can’t forget cowriters Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens.
I actually know about Lake Bell because of How To Make It In America and I liked her a lot in the second season. I dunno when I’ll ever see her film, but I really want to see it.
The Bling Ring was hit-and-miss for me, but the interview with Emma Watson’s character worked well for me near the end of the film.
Admission was disappointing (still on my Bottom 5 2013 ranking), but I didn’t hate The Heat. I’ll admit it got off to a rough start, but it got better halfway through (I’d give it a 3/5 rating).
Also, why are we counting Frances Ha, Sightseers Before Midnight? Haven’t seen them yet (Before Midnight is something I really wanna see on the big screen, but I’ll settle down for copy/online if this doesn’t hit the cinema by Christmas), but they include male writers. Or you’re counting any films as long as one woman is involved with the writing.
@Rodrigo, well I’m counting them because I think it’d be ridiculous to completely disregard a film with a female writer (some of which are very heavy in their female presence with terms of character and story) just because there’s also a man involved (or even two men). I feel like all of the examples I use are pretty fair cases. Frances Ha has a really clear and overwhelming female experience that cannot be changed, Before Midnight would not be the same without Delpy’s presence, and Sightseers has two main characters (one male, one female) who both wrote the film together so that’s a pretty clear indicator of the fact that she’s important to the script.
@Juan Barquin, Sorry if I sounded like a dick in my previous comment. I’m not against the films by any means. But I can imagine if you went for a “female-written only, no guys involved” criteria, it’d be a lot harder to pull this one off given availability reasons.
To add films for your task… “Bastards (2013)” and “Blue is the Warmest Color” should count, unless I’m mistaken.
@Rodrigo, Yeah, the limitations of the task are obnoxious because there SHOULD be hundreds more films written by women and you also have to factor in the bad ones. Just like men have their off films, women do too. Bastards and Blue would definitely count in the bunch but considering they’ve literally only had festival runs, I wasn’t planning on tossing ’em in. What I MIGHT do is a follow-up piece to this eventually with some more movies. Or maybe just something focused solely on female directors rather than writers (while also trying not to overlap with the ones already featured here).
@Juan Barquin, You could also add female tv writers. That could easily amplify your field for praising women.