Various biographical approaches to important women writers have overlapped over time; ‘Emily’ (2022) written and directed by actress Frances O’Connor, focusing on a scene in Emily Brönte’s life. Literary biography, films about women writers are also not uncommon. Examples include ‘Iris’ (2001), ‘Sylvia’ (2003) or ‘Young Jane Austen’ (2007). And last year, ‘The Hours’ (2002), written by Stephen Daldry, turned twenty. Adapted from Michael Cunningham’s novel, not biographical but one of its protagonists ‘Mrs. Virginia Woolf (Nicole Kidman) in the scene where she writes Dalloway. So why is it remarkable that in recent years so many films about the life and work of women writers have appeared? For three reasons. One, because there really are many. Another, because they begin with a clear desire to remember the importance of these writers. Third, they are responsible, mostly female directors, as they intend to present rich and complex profiles of these women.
Most of these filmmakers avoid schematism and focus on how aware these writers were of the realities of their time.from the difficulties they faced in their independence and rebellion because they were women. Not all of these movies are brilliant, and some, even with the best of intentions, observe their protagonists with an overly up-to-date look infected with the concerns of the present. However, while not all of these films shine equally, it is linked to the need to remember the literary and historical significance of these women.
The last one released last week ‘Emily’, in which O’Connor summarizes the author’s psychological complexity and possible impact on the life (and work) of the two male figures, her brother and the man she fell in love with. However, this is not an isolated case. In recent years, Keira Knightley’s ‘Colette’ (2018), which brought the French writer to life, and ‘Meeting Astrid’ (2018), which is about the youth of the country, saw the lights. Astrid Lindgren, creator of Pippi Longstocking and presents it as a clear feminist reference. Marguerite Duras was also released. “Paris 1944” (2017) inspired by Duras’s “El dolor” book/diary, and even more interestingly “Historia de una pasión” (2016), “Mary Shelley” (2017) and “Shirley” ( 2020). Before we move on to these last three, we must also highlight a close recommendation: María Pérez’s ‘Karen’ (2020), an intimate and elegant portrait of Danish writer Karen Blixen.
life and work
Despite being very different, Mary Shelley and Shirley have one thing in common: their directors intersect—narratively and formally—with the life and work of the protagonists of their films.. In the first, filmmaker Haifaa Al-Mansour chronicles the adolescence of the author of Frankenstein and the events that prompted him to write this book. Didactically, she highlights Shelley’s difficulties in promoting her work in a world that denies women and the feminism she inherited from her mother, writer Mary Wollstonecraft. But most interesting is how he draws parallels between the protagonist and his famous monster and tries to give the film the air of Shelley’s novel.
Director Josephine Decker intertwines the life and work of writer Shriley Jackson, who was a horror literature teacher at ‘Shirley,’ in this case even delirium. In ‘Shirley’ the author, his characters and his ghostly universe merge and mix. In both films, there is a clear desire to pay attention to the work of these authors and to avoid a common evil in literary biography: forgetting that these women wrote above all else, beyond their problems. This is the essence of the best of the films cited in this report, ‘Historia de una pasión’ (2016), in which Terence Davies approaches Emily Dickinson and captures the mystery of her poems with dexterity as well as humility.
documentary proposals
The documentary, which takes place in theaters, festivals and platforms, also shows interest in women writers. (For example, Film has a section devoted to films about women writers). The recently released ‘Super 8 Years’ (2022; of the film) is an unusual proposal that Nobel laureate Annie Ernaux (with her son, the director of the film) sought out for in old domestic films, and ‘Women from To the Spain’. ‘María Lejárraga’ (2022; Film), a documentary in which director Laura Hojman approaches the leading figure of feminism in Spain and touches on her muted literary works. In addition to the redemptive documentaries about Nora Ephron on the importance of ‘Remembering Susan Sontag’ (2014; The Film) or ‘Everything is a copy’ (2016), platforms combine (or even produce) new non-fiction recommendations about women writers with spontaneity and welcome.
Mentioned documentaries have been or will be watched online in Spain: “Joan Didion: The Center will surrender” (2017; Netflix), “Let’s pretend New York is a city” (2021; Netflix), by Martin Scorsese The series ‘Ferrante Fever’ (2017), in which she talks with writer Fran Lebowitz, is about the mystery surrounding Elena Ferrante and the phenomenon of her books, ‘The Worlds of Ursula K. Le Guin’ (2018; The Film). Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am’ (2019), ‘Margaret Atwood: A Word After a Word After a Word is Power’ (2019; Film), ‘Loving Highsmith’ (2022; My Film), mini-series ‘Agatha Christie: The Mystery Queen’ (2022; Movistar) or ‘Flannery’ (2019), a creative documentary about Flannery O’Connor.
Source: Informacion
Brandon Hall is an author at “Social Bites”. He is a cultural aficionado who writes about the latest news and developments in the world of art, literature, music, and more. With a passion for the arts and a deep understanding of cultural trends, Brandon provides engaging and thought-provoking articles that keep his readers informed and up-to-date on the latest happenings in the cultural world.