2015 has been an odd year for films, it feels like for every step forward we take some male director say something sexist and stupid and we take ten steps back. There have been article after article about how there is a serious drought in women helming films, and it's a serious problem – it is no secret that when it comes to films directors are often seen as the geniuses behind them, so when all we see are men being those geniuses it sends a bad message about what women are capable of & it tells young girls who want to direct that there is no room for them. I hope that in 2016 we see a lot more films written and directed for women and that this continues as time goes on. It's a hard battle but women deserve to live in a world where we can see ourselves on screen in all our beautiful glory, with women bringing those stories to live. So in light of that here are my top 5, in no particular order, feminist films of 2015.
Ex Machina
Ex Machina was the first film on this blog for a reason, it was so brilliant in a genre that was drenched in sexism to find one that actually realised what would happen when female robots grew tired of being abused. As a result I started this blog simply to talk about how much I enjoyed it and it has grown and grown since then; you can read the post here. As a film it has some very beautiful shots, brilliantly thought out characters, and the microcosm that it exists in is one crafted perfectly. Vikander plays her role brilliantly, managing to potray the clinical side of a robot whilst simultaneously being softer when needed. It is a film that is aware of the darker, more twisted sexually & violently side of men, but instead of presenting it as uncommented upon fact it shows the consequences of it; it shows what would happen when that violence & entitlement was forced upon a being that had been brought into this world by that which was now causing her harm.
Rating: 5/5 Director: Alex Garland Starring: Alicia Vikander, Domhnall Gleeson, Oscar Isaac. Available on: DVD, or to buy on services such as Blink Box or Amazon Video.
Mad Max: Fury Road
Any film that prompts a boycott from 'Men's Rights Activists' is probably one that I'd love. You can read my original post on this here. It was one that again understood the harm that male violence can cause and instead of using it for entertainment instead used women fighting back as its plot. It was a very thrilling joy ride – quite literally – of female, and I hate this word, empowerment. It gave us indivdiual characters that were seperated by more than just their hair colour. The film quite happily focused on the tragic story that Max had come across rather than trying to sideline the amazing Imperator Furiosa simply to keep him as the protagonist. It showed raw female strength & the power of sisterhood and I utterly loved it.
Rating: 5/5 Director: George Miller Starring: Tom Hardy, and Charlize Theron. Available on: DVD, or to buy on services such as Amazon Video.
Inside Out
Whilst little girls often get given tales of Disney Princesses, and much feminist writing has been done about those, they don't often get stories about them simply being little girls. But here was Inside Out a Pixar film exploring, rather than dismissing, a little girl's emotions. It was, again quite literally, a joy to watch. The film explored what happens when big, stressful things happen in our lives – such as moving house – and shows what might happen to a person's emotions during that time. I hope it helped children understand their own feelings, to have them validated, and made human and hilarious. It made me laugh and it definitely made me cry; it was beautiful to have a film with such a great female lead be such a natural, normal, and popular thing. I wrote about it briefly in a post (here) where I talked about Jurassic World & Pitch Perfect 2, two films that seemed to be angry about the fact that women existed & dared to take up space in a world made for men.
Rating: 5/5 Director: Pete Docter and Ronnie Del Carmen Starring: Amy Poehler, Bill Hader. Available on: DVD, or to buy on services such as Amazon Video.
Spy
Spy was a hilarious film, and as a big fan of Melissa McCarthy & Miranda Hart I was extremely excited to see them both in a film. I never quite got around to writing up a post for it on my blog but I enjoyed it thoroughly when I watched it. It feels so ridiculous that I have to praise a film for treating Melissa McCarthy like a whole person rather than as a joke or a backdrop as there are more than enough films about men of all shapes and sizes being treated like people in comparison. But I shall because it feels like it is worth saying, and oh is she ever one hell of a person. Constantly put down upon in the film and underestimated McCarthy's character proves that she is badass. With a hilarious, amazing side kick in the ever great Miranda Hart (you can tell I'm a big fan, can't you) McCarthy kicks arse after Jude Law's character gets killed; yes, a film opened by killing off the beautiful male lead so a female lead could feel sad and take action – when does that ever happen? It's an awesome film, that is so great to watch and I really do recommend it. I won't say more as I wouldn't want to spoil it but what I will say is I never knew the world has such a great comic actor in Jason Statham.
Rating: 5/5 Director: Paul Feig Starring: Melissa McCarthy, Rose Byrne, Miranda Hart.
Available on: DVD, or to buy on services such as Amazon Video.
Girlhood
As I have not seen this film yet but that I know it is worthy of being this list I have asked Sam Calvert, here and who's own review of Ex Machina you can read here, to write this section for me. Enjoy.
Much like Céline Sciamma’s two previous works, Girlhood is a film which places the focus on issues less portrayed within the medium of cinema. Whereas Water Lilies (2007) explores the sexual awakenings and confusion of three teenage girls and Tomboy (2011) follows the distressing experiences of a transgendered ten-year old child Girlhood shines a light upon the young black girls that call Paris’ rough and tumble banlieues their home. It is on the surface a coming-of-age drama, however themes of race, gender, class and the politics of those subjects are explored and in the tradition of other banlieue films such as Karim Dridi’s Bye Bye (1995) and Matthieu Kassovitz’s La Haine (1995) offers a refreshing counter to standard nostalgia-soaked coming-of-age narratives as well as the ubiquitous cinematic images normally associated with white, middle-class sophisticated Paris. However unlike those films, the cast of Girlhood is almost entirely female.
It is a film that is brutally honest with its female characters, they are as flawed as they are empowered and are never once cast under a judgemental eye by the filmmaker. They do what they want, succeed and fail on their own merits, all in the name of empowering themselves for themselves and not for anyone else – a notion played to perfection in the much talked about ‘Diamonds’ scene. In fact the gender relations at play between the males and females in the banlieue would be worthy of a whole article in themselves. Ultimately writer/director Sciamma sums it up perfectly herself when she states that “French young women today are this girl”. A sure-fire modern classic, a slightly dragging final act is the only thing stopping Girlhood from achieving perfection.
Rating: 4.5/5 Director: Céline Sciamma Starring: Karidja Touré, Assa Sylla, Lindsay Karamoh, Marietou Toure Available on: DVD, Netflix US, or to buy on services such as Amazon Video.
Very Honourable Mentions: Crimson Peak, Carol, Room, Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
Join me in the New Year where I will be starting a 10-part series exploring female sexuality, and how men find it scary, in films; starting from the teenage years and going all through a woman's life. I'll be looking at great films such as Pariah, Waterlillies, and Under the Skin.
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