Female Protagonists

This a short article concerning female representation in British cinema taken from: http://www.screenonline.org.uk/film/id/824016/index.html

"It is widely felt that female characters in film have been restricted to the easy categories that classical narratives and familiar genres demand of them (the typical complaint is that women in films are either 'virgins, mothers or whores'). There is certainly some truth in this view. However, across the history of British cinema we can see the development of an impressive variety of female characters and protagonists. One might even argue that by comparison with Hollywood, British cinema, with its perennial concern for realism, its desire to speak about ordinary lives and social concerns and its comparative lack of emphasis upon superficial beauty and glamour, has permitted a greater breadth of female representation. Thus today's British cinema finds a place for actors as varied as Helena Bonham-Carter, Kathy Burke, Judi Dench, Jane Horrocks, Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Samantha Morton, Kristen Scott-Thomas, Maggie Smith, Alison Steadman, Emma Thompson, Julie Walters and Catherine Zeta-Jones.
It's undeniable that, despite this variety, women on film have been more often restricted to familial or domestic roles than have men. While a number of famous female protagonists have been presented as strong models of motherhood (as in Poor Cow (d. Ken Loach, 1967) and A Taste of Honey (d. Tony Richardson, 1961)), we have rarely seen women whose priority is to pursue and develop their ambitions, talents or vocations (see, for example, The Red Shoes (d. Michael Powell/Emeric Pressburger, 1948), Educating Rita (d. Lewis Gilbert, 1983), and Little Voice (UK/US, d. Mark Herman, 1998)). Female characters who are uninterested in motherhood and domesticity are frequently depicted as lacking something or paying a price for their success. Those who do pursue larger ambitions are often portrayed as being in some sense naïve, manipulated by other (male) characters in the pursuit of their dreams.
As British cinema has developed, the number of female protagonists has increased, and female characters play a larger part in propelling the narrative forward. For example, where the British New Wave films of the 1960s largely confined their female characters to motherhood and domesticity, leaving the male protagonists to speak out about larger social concerns, many contemporary social realist films allow female characters greater power over their own destinies.
The representation of women in film depends as much on issues of production, institutions and genres as on social, political and historical contexts. Gainsborough melodramas, Carry On films, Hammer horrors, heritage films and recent 'Brit-grit' realist films all necessarily place limitations upon the kinds of roles open to female (and male) actors.
Yet even within the most conventional of studios and genres, and within the most unpromising films, it's possible to find women who offer alternative and positive representations: for example the powerful female characters played by Helena Bonham-Carter and Emma Thompson in 1980s and '90s heritage films, or the charismatic, if troubled, characters played by Julie Christie in earlier films like Darling (d. John Schlesinger, 1965).
The situation for non-white women is slightly less rosy, in that fewer representations exist, but we still have the varied and careful characterisations found in Burning an Illusion (d. Menelik Shabazz, 1981), Bhaji on the Beach (d. Gurinder Chadha, 1993), East is East (d. Damien O'Donnell, 1999) and Secrets and Lies (d. Mike Leigh, 1996)."

Baise-moi is available in the AV room, if you want to see it. There are plenty of books on this area. Ask me for stuff from The Cinema Book and try E Ann Kaplan's Women and Film book - a bit old now, and a bit advanced (university level) but worth reading for what you can get from it, and only £1.49 on Amazon! Given your spend on paint for your advance production this is clearly within your budget...

I'll give you the Matt Hall piece next week.

Sean

Is there such a thing as a 'female' cinema?

After reading the research supplied and looking up certain names given I have begun the long road to success. I've decided to lean more towards the idea of a 'female' cinema as it's much more interesting than picking apart a specific genre and representation.

For example:

As it's been said, plenty of women enjoy the male dominated industry and the products made in it, so why do we need a female representation in cinema? Is there such a thing as a female gaze and identity? To do this, one would have to research what women want from a film. Are they offended by stereotypes or women who are objectified? Is the entire audience pressured into adopting a male perspective of what they are watching? What is meant by a 'masculine' and 'feminine' cinema?

There are certainly opposing styles of films that are made by different sexes but what of those that are similar? A group of French feminists who wanted to portray independence and empowerment went a very masculine way about it by making a film called "Baise-moi" (Rape Me) - full of sex, rape and murder all by women done to men (I haven't seen it but we're learning about contraversial cinema and the BBFC hated this one). Perhaps this would be common in a male orientated thriller or horror but the subject matter and characters are very alternative for the conventional female representations (yes, that is sexist). And what happens women do work behind the camera? They do not all make the same films but they do hold certain ideologies and when we see a female producer, writer and director we do expect a certain style of storytelling.

Film text ideas; Lost In Translation (Francis Ford Coppola: the modern representation ), The Piano (Jane Campion: traditional female ideology), Brokeback Mountain (Ang lee: the male love story) and ??? I'm now going to look at: www.aber.ac.uk/media/sections/film01.html, Matt Hall's Towards a Female Cinema and E. Ann Kaplan's Women and Film - Both sides of the camera.

P.S. If you have time Sean, ask the Mrs (Jill) what she thinks about all this. She's a feminist and could be of paramount importance, so I hope she watches plenty of films (not just Hamlet). Also, any book ideas? I'd like more time to choose my film texts after this re-think, please.

Your first ideas

Women and Film


A “female” cinema


Your proposal is much too wide and we need to narrow it to a specific area. I would suggest you pick a single GENRE and look at the range of reps of women available within that genre. OR you explore the idea of whether or not there is such a thing as a “female” cinema by looking at some specific films which have been considered to be “female” viewpoints on the world – perhaps “The Piano” (Jane Campion) compared with, say, “Lost in Translation”. The trouble with such a study is that you are in danger of arguing that “women make different films from men”, which is always a position which you can counter argue just by looking at other directors (eg Kathryn Bigelow). However, the notion that some films attempt to refuse “the male gaze” is one which can work fairly well).

What I suggest you read will depend on whether you choose to look at a genre or at this issue. I attach an essay about the issue for you, but I need to discuss this more carefully with you.