"In the Company of Women" is a documentary about the growth of the feminist movement in movies. One of the films covered is "Secretary," starring Maggie Gyllenhaal.
Women’s film growth
profiled
This is a good historical overview of the growth of the feminist voice in independent cinema since the early 1980s.
As actor Tilda Swinton addresses at the beginning of the 90-minute documentary, there's still a need for movie-going audiences to experience the collective psyche of women in all of its complexity. Even though the mainstream megasuccess of Nia Vardalos' "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" runs contrary to these earlier, groundbreaking films, more nuanced and personal work of late -- like Sofia Coppola's "Lost in Translation" and Charlize Theron's "Monster" -- are definitely part of the through line of women's history in independent film.
"In the Company of Women" 10 p.m. today at Restaurant Row multiplex
All the interviewees in the biz freely voice their opinions, mixed with anecdotes, with Village Voice film critic Amy Taubin and historian-theorist B. Ruby Rich occasionally chiming in as well.
Pivotal films and actors are given their due throughout the documentary:
» The reinvention tale of "Desperately Seeking Susan" from Susan Seidelman, who came from the downtown N.Y. art scene only to make a crossover success, starring Rosanna Arquette and then-rising star Madonna;
» The working-class depictions offered by Nancy Savoca on the East Coast ("True Love" -- whose Italian American wedding scenario predates Vardalos' broad comedy by 13 years) and Alison Anders in Los Angeles ("Gas Food Lodging");
» A look at the early work of actor Lili Taylor, whose starring roles in "Dogfight" and "I Shot Andy Warhol," are strong examples of how one woman took on unsympathetic roles and made them her own;
» The rise of queer cinema, culminating, to date, with Kimberly Peirce's "Boys Don't Cry" that won Hilary Swank the Best Actress Oscar in 1999;
» And current offerings that continue to stretch the envelope in the depiction of women's sexuality (Maggie Gyllenhaal in "Secretary"), body image (Nicole Holofcener's touching "Lovely & Amazing") and aging (Frances McDormand in Lisa Cholodenko's "Laurel Canyon").
Women's films are no longer marginalized in popular culture, with the rise of film festivals helping to create its own indie star system, particularly actors like Parker Posey, Hope Davis, Catherine Keener, Chloe Sevigny and Patricia Clarkson. Indie female directors also no longer feel they need to move into the Hollywood industry to validate their work.
"In the Company of Women" makes for a decent primer and should inspire viewers to search out the profiled films to further their own education.
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