She Said: Breaking the Sexual Harassment Story That Helped Ignite a Movement by Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey https://notesaboutfilms.blogspot.com/2022/12/one-of-most-important-movies-of-2022.html
10 out of
10
These lines
are Not about the book, they are about the film based on the work which has
been listed as a Goodreads Choice Award Nominee for Best Nonfiction in 2019 and
it has caused a furore, that we have all seen in the news, on television,
social media and it has resulted in a massive change in society…after writing a
little, I see that I am In The Mood For Love, not as in that fabulous movie,
but to scribble here and get far away from the subject, so this is not a
spoiler, but an alert anyway, it will not be interesting
The
transformations have been massive, but let me just mention one I have learned
from The Cultural program of the National Television – incidentally, it is good
it has returned after a hiatus of a few years…it had made no sense for them to
eliminate it, after all, what is the purpose of the channels funded by public
money, if not to promote arts and culture, there are more than one hundred offers
that are commercial, inviting audiences to see Turkish soap operas, travel
shows, medicine, architecture…
There are
in fact five or ten religious platforms, Pentecostal, orthodox and a few other
variations that I have not identified and I am not all that keen on -I am an
atheist, until there is an epiphany, a miracle, or maybe I get convinced by
Pascal’s wager, which invites us to believe in god, because if he is not up
there, we have lost nothing, but if he does have the advertised powers, realms
of heaven and hell, then we are in trouble if we do not follow the holy texts,
then there is that other argument, where ‘Anselm claims to derive the existence
of God from the concept of a being than which no greater can be conceived…St.
Anselm reasoned that, if such a being fails to exist, then a greater
being—namely, a being than which no greater can be conceived, and which
exists—can be conceived’
However,
there was this program the other day, centered on the latest list issued by The
British Film Institute https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/greatest-films-all-time and the conclusion was that the
MeToo movement has changed the perspective and the list, where there are women directors
and indeed, the first place is taken by a film that I have never heard of, and
I realize that I need to see, even if it is long and in the style of Italian
Neorealism, where if someone ‘peels potatoes, boils water, then we see all those things, which are
avoided by the commercial movies’ as the excellent critic Andrei Gorzo was
explaining.
Indeed, Jeanne
Dielman, which is the best film ever, according to the BFI list, there is one
that comes every ten years, so this is the latest, will have audiences watch as
the protagonist is cleaning the house, taking a bath, and performing ordinary
tasks, which has had the public in cinemas express disapproval or worse.
If we do
not understand a motion picture, we should allow the others to enjoy it, this
is something the other guest in the cultural program was saying…I remember
seeing The Stalker when I was about seventeen and falling asleep in the Studio
cinema hall, looking again at this work of art, included on the BFI list, I was
not awed by the artistic accomplishment, and must confess I do not get the
hidden messages, or the other symbolism, hermetic or open as it may be, it is
too deep and clever for yours truly.
Trying to
say a few things about She Said, it is a rewarding, compelling and satisfying
motion picture, one of the most important in 2022, albeit it has not been
nominated for major Golden Globes, unless I am mistaken and they took into
account the performances…and yes, now I remember seeing Carey Mulligan listed
for some of the important trophies, she is Megan Twohey in the narrative and
she does a good job
Carey
Mulligan is not my favorite artist, in fact, there is something in her manner,
style, approach to her roles that disagrees with this cinephile, only I know it
is my fault, so mea culpa, it is a shortcoming, I do not get the ‘vibes’ and
though I can see she is talented and acclaimed, nominated for her work multiple
times, and winning quite a few trophies, there is an allergy, or as I said, a challenge,
a handicap I must have, and the blindness in that spot translates into being
unable to enjoy her performances.
In fact, I
have appreciated much more Zoe Kazan (would she be related to the famous
director, easy to find on the net, but what would be the point…there is a
recent backlash against nepotism in films, Hollywood and American cinema maybe,
criticism that the children of stars become employed in the industry, but then
tom Hanks responded to this and said something like ‘if there is a family
business, different generations take care of the store or the small business,
nobody complains…we have it in our genes and then the audiences judge the
result’ and this makes so much sense, if they risk and put in productions
people that are related, but then the public does not relate to their presence,
the movies will flop, tank…
Megan
Twohey and Jodi Kantor (the excellent Zoe Kazan) investigate and expose Harvey
Weinstein, the monster that is now looking at a life time in prison, one who
has raped, abused, harassed multiple women, who have had to see him naked,
masturbating and generally doing and asking for horrible things, blackmailing
and using his powerful position as one of the most powerful men in the industry
to extract favors, massages, sex and other, ruining the career of those who did
not submit to his will.
For a long
time, women have been unable to speak about this, there have been non-disclosure
agreements, punishing contracts, threats, phone calls, the pressure and fear of
knowing what a powerful, wealthy man can do to a woman, but eventually, the
victims have started to speak out and the role that Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey
played was massive, crucial, they have been the successors of Bob Woodward and
Carl Bernstein http://notesaboutfilms.blogspot.com/2017/10/note-on-all-presidents-men-writer.htm in the new age, just as Woodward
and Bernstein have exposed Watergate and then president Richard Nixon has had
to resign, those two phenomenal women have eliminated another titanic monster
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