Title: Women Talking
Tagline: Do nothing. Stay and fight. Leave.
Genre: Drama
Director: Sarah Polley
Cast: Rooney Mara, Claire Foy, Jessie Buckley, Judith Ivey, Sheila McCarthy, Michelle McLeod, Kate Hallett, Liv McNeil, August Winter, Ben Whishaw, Frances McDormand, Kira Guloien, Shayla Brown, Emily Mitchell, Eli Ham, Lochlan Ray Miller, Vivien Endicott Douglas, Nathaniel McParland, Marcus Craig, Will Bowes, Emily Drake, Caroline Gillis, Shannon Widdis
Release: 2022-12-23
Runtime: 104
Plot: A group of women in an isolated religious colony struggle to reconcile their faith with a series of sexual assaults committed by the colony's men.Surprised there is no thread for this Best Picture nominee!
My take:
WOMEN TALKING (2022)
Sarah Polley's disappointing adaptation of Miriam Toews' novel (they co-wrote the screenplay) is loosely based on an incident in a South American Mennonite colony where a series of violent sexual attacks on its women splintered the sect. WOMEN TALKING's exact location is never revealed. They are all English speaking, but the settings are in keeping with the public's understanding of the Amish and Mennonites - few modern conveniences, spare living quarters, isolation.
The main setting is a barn where the leading female voices have gathered to choose a course of action in response to the brutality they have encounted at the hands of their men: Stay and make peace. Leave. Or, Stay and fight. Claire Foy's Salome and Jessie Buckley's Mariche are the pair most agitating towards action. Judith Ivey's Agata and Sheila McCarthy's Greta are the more measured, older women. Rooney Mara's Ona is most optimistic, hoping for a better life somehow. The one male at the gathering is Ben Whishaw's August who is not only sympathetic to the women's plight, but, more urgently, literate. He takes the minutes of the meeting. The women have been forbidden to learn to read or write.
As an acting ensemble, they are peerless. Each giving their character a sense of individual being, so as not to just be part of a “group”. Frances McDormand has a small supporting role, and is one of the movie's Producers. Luc Montpellier's muted Cinematography is in keeping with the drab living conditions. Hildur Guðnadóttir plaintive score matches the mood.
For all the fine acting and technical skill, Polley and Toews' screenplay lacks drive. By it's very structure, it was always going to be verbose, but, the screenplay keeps the details so vague that it drains the movie of any real drama. The term “Mennonites” is never mentioned, neither is the place (and the time is only mentioned in passing). It becomes more of a vague parable about the treatment of women in general than these specific women. While this was all certainly intentional, by eliminating the context of the true story it becomes almost a Twilight Zone-ish situation, taking place in neverland, veering more into polemic territory rather than taut dramatization. The themes and subtext are there, but, it never matches up with what is actually happening on screen.
WOMEN TALKING works best when it focuses on the acting and the individual characters. At times it feels almost like a Salem Witch Trials situation - only in reverse; From the “Witches” perspective. Unfortunately, Polley is never able to give the screenplay any real resonance of its own. The events are horrific, the women honorable - but there isn't a sense of momentum or a genuine discovery on the part of the characters. It's all very strained and pre-ordained despite the performances.
My take:
WOMEN TALKING (2022)
Sarah Polley's disappointing adaptation of Miriam Toews' novel (they co-wrote the screenplay) is loosely based on an incident in a South American Mennonite colony where a series of violent sexual attacks on its women splintered the sect. WOMEN TALKING's exact location is never revealed. They are all English speaking, but the settings are in keeping with the public's understanding of the Amish and Mennonites - few modern conveniences, spare living quarters, isolation.
The main setting is a barn where the leading female voices have gathered to choose a course of action in response to the brutality they have encounted at the hands of their men: Stay and make peace. Leave. Or, Stay and fight. Claire Foy's Salome and Jessie Buckley's Mariche are the pair most agitating towards action. Judith Ivey's Agata and Sheila McCarthy's Greta are the more measured, older women. Rooney Mara's Ona is most optimistic, hoping for a better life somehow. The one male at the gathering is Ben Whishaw's August who is not only sympathetic to the women's plight, but, more urgently, literate. He takes the minutes of the meeting. The women have been forbidden to learn to read or write.
As an acting ensemble, they are peerless. Each giving their character a sense of individual being, so as not to just be part of a “group”. Frances McDormand has a small supporting role, and is one of the movie's Producers. Luc Montpellier's muted Cinematography is in keeping with the drab living conditions. Hildur Guðnadóttir plaintive score matches the mood.
For all the fine acting and technical skill, Polley and Toews' screenplay lacks drive. By it's very structure, it was always going to be verbose, but, the screenplay keeps the details so vague that it drains the movie of any real drama. The term “Mennonites” is never mentioned, neither is the place (and the time is only mentioned in passing). It becomes more of a vague parable about the treatment of women in general than these specific women. While this was all certainly intentional, by eliminating the context of the true story it becomes almost a Twilight Zone-ish situation, taking place in neverland, veering more into polemic territory rather than taut dramatization. The themes and subtext are there, but, it never matches up with what is actually happening on screen.
WOMEN TALKING works best when it focuses on the acting and the individual characters. At times it feels almost like a Salem Witch Trials situation - only in reverse; From the “Witches” perspective. Unfortunately, Polley is never able to give the screenplay any real resonance of its own. The events are horrific, the women honorable - but there isn't a sense of momentum or a genuine discovery on the part of the characters. It's all very strained and pre-ordained despite the performances.
