Feature by Sara Freeman: As a newbie staff writer for InRO, a significant part of my position here will involve writing this monthly column. I’m a feminist film theorist based in Chicago, and though I’m certainly no expert, the history of women’s cinema has fascinated me for most of my adult life, and I’ve spent the last two years professionally writing and speaking about film from a feminist perspective. As you’ll probably learn in the near future, I’m a very passionate writer and I hope that my passion for this subject encourages InRO’s readers to explore the history of women’s cinema. I personally am partial to the classic women’s pictures of the ‘30s and ‘40s (Bette Davis, Dorothy Arzner, etc.) as well as bombastic action movies (McTiernan, Woo, To, etc.), but I don’t plan on focusing my column on any one particular genre, auteur, or period of film. Instead, I would like to explore a wide variety of films and filmmakers in order to tackle a sundry of cinematic representations.

While I appreciate the Laura Mulvey school of feminist film theory, I find her analytical, almost cold approach to exploring women in film isn’t very beneficial to, well, anyone. My writing and the way I approach feminist film theory is more Molly Haskell-ish for two reasons. 1) To paraphrase Haskell, “I’m a film critic/lover first and a feminist second.” Though I’m a devout feminist, I’m still able to passionately love a film if I don’t agree with its politics or presentation of women. 2.) I hope to present a broad range of theoretical approaches to my column. One post may be distinctly historical and another may be written from a purely aesthetic perspective. It will depend on the movie and which mode will be the best one to explain my feelings about it.

This column will run indefinitely. I’ve chosen ten films to start with in order to get a “feel” for the column and find out what works and what doesn’t. A few of them are among my favorite films while others, as you will see, just piss me off. Above all, though, I’m looking forward to taking this journey with In Review Online and its readers and I hope you are too.

KINOFEMME: Feminist Film Column

List of fIlms to be reviewed in this column

   • Wonder Woman (2009) / Lauren Montgomery

    • The Damned Don’t Cry (1950) / Vincent Sherman

    • The Red Kimono (1925) / Walter Lang

    • Christine (1983) / John Carpenter

    • Repast (1951) / Mikio Naruse

    • The Bigamist (1953) / Ida Lupino

    • The Stendhal Syndrome (1995) / Dario Argento

    • Scarlet Diva (2000) / Asia Argento

    • Journey to Italy (1954) / Roberto Rossellini

    • Teeth (2007) / Mitchell Lichtenstein

As always, feel free to leave feedback via the comments section below. You can also contact Sara Freeman directly by email or on the web: www.cineslayer.com.)

Feature By:
Sara Freeman