Ridley Scott is rightly regarded as one of the most innovative filmmakers of the 1970s and ’80s. His groundbreaking work in films like Blade Runner, Alien and Thelma & Louise still stands up today. But since Gladiator (2000) his work has tended to the epic and slightly bombastic. His latest, The Last Duel, remains in…
The documentary Girls Can’t Surf is a look at those pioneering female surfers who fought against the entrenched sexism of this male dominated sport. In the 60s, the male surfers were the heroes, while female surfers were largely relegated to the sidelines, forced to wear skimpy swimsuits and were treated almost as a sideshow or…
French cinematic touchstones and a powerful feminist message merge in Martin Provost’s How to be a Good Wife. This slightly bonkers film traverses similar ground to Philippa Lowthorpe’s Misbehaviour, and does it with a similarly entertaining flair. But it also leans heavily into the traditions of French farce. Provost’s previous film was the far more…
Aristophanes’ classic Greek comedy Lysistrata is a comic account of women’s extraordinary mission to end the Peloponnesian War. They withhold sexual privileges from their men as a means of forcing peace talks. As an early exposé of sexual relations in a male-dominated society, it’s an apt source for Lysa and the Freeborn Dames. This new…
In true international award-winning Black Honey Company style, One the Bear bursts on the audience. In an apocalyptic aesthetic avalanche, its stars, the story’s titular One (Candy Bowers) and her best friend Ursula (Nancy Denis), emerge from a rubbish skip. One and Ursula are bears attempting to escape a hunter. Such is the reality of…
