16 Jul 2015

At The Movies for 16 July

From At The Movies, 7:30 pm on 16 July 2015

Far From The Madding Crowd

Simon Morris looks at the recent burst of women-oriented films – including Far From The Madding Crowd, Inside Out, The Falling and Man Up. He also talks to a successful New Zealand cinematographer, who happens to be a woman – Ginny Loane.

The Big Picture with Simon Morris. 

After a couple of weeks off I’ve returned to a decidedly healthier looking bunch of titles. Not only does the International Film Festival seem bulging at the seams with intriguing, bizarre and entertaining films, but the movies on general release are a huge improvement on what was on offer a few weeks ago.

The most interesting thing about this month’s movies is how many of them are by, with, about and for women. 

Inside Out almost entirely takes place inside the psyche of a little girl. Magic Mike XXL is a blown-up, and rather terrifying, hen-party.  Man Up turns the usual “bozo guy looking for love” comedy formula into a bozo woman, played endearingly by Lake Bell. Even the Beach Boy bio-pic Love and Mercy – is taken from a woman’s point of view. 

One of New Zealand cinema’s unsung heroines, Ginny Loane is that very rare thing - a woman cinematographer, and also one of the best we have. Ginny is naturally keen to see more women-driven stories on our screens, and she certainly can’t complain at the moment.

Two current films could probably only have been made by women – the second Madame Bovary of the year, directed by Frenchwoman Sophie Barthes, and an odd little film called The Falling, directed by Englishwoman Carol Morley.

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