Sex and the Cinema - Antonia’s Line
Wednesday, March 4th, 7.30pm, Daubeny building (opposite Magdalen College).
e-mail milan.terlunen@magd.ox.ac.uk for more info.

Our “Sex and the Cinema” events are an opportunity to watch excellent films
on a big screen, then discuss questions about sex, gender, feminism, and
women’s rights which the films raise. We are lucky enough to have feminist
film studies tutor Maria Donapetry to lead our discussions. No academic
knowledge is required though: it’s about sharing impressions, thoughts, and
reactions.

This coming week (7th week) we’ll be watching an Oscar-winning Dutch
feminist film from 1995 called Antonia’s Line. The blurb tells us that
“Antonia’s Line is an inspiring and uplifting masterpiece, as big-hearted and full of
life as the unforgettable character at its heart. At the end of WWII, a
spirited, independent woman returns to the small Dutch village in which she
was born to start a new life with her young daughter. Thus begins a
remarkable portrait of a family and a community, of mothers and daughters,
and of one indomitable woman. Earthy, sexy, romantic, filled with laughter
and warmth, it’s a joyous celebration of simple pleasures and enduring
passions.”

But if that all sounds a bit sickly-sweet, you should know that Marleen
Gorris, the director of this film, had previously directed A Question of
Silence, in which three women beat a male shop assistant to death in an act
of apparent defiance against the patriarchy. She is not someone who is naive
or blindly optimistic, and Antonia’s Line is intelligent in its rejection of
stereotypes, its consideration of marginalised groups, and its vision of a
community in which women are equals.