Wives (Hustruer) by Norwegian writer and director Anja Breien is a female take to John Cassavetes acclaimed "Husbands" which sees three married men leave their dull lives, together seeking pleasure and freedom and ultimately leaving for London. In the same manner it's the women's time to do it in Wives.
After a children school's reunion three former best friends, now women decides to go on a male-like ramp for a week instead of cooking dinner for their husbands for the sake of female liberation.
The movie was launched with the questions like "what would happen if girls started acting like men", "what if they went on a rampage instead of taking care of their homes". The movie obviously became a smash hit in Norwegian cinemas when it premiered on September 4th 1975 to much critical acclaim. Then the movie already had been a success at the Locarno International Film Festival where it won the "Prize of the Ecumenical Jury" a week earlier, and a week later it was a huge hit at the Norwegian Film Festival in Hamar. It turned things upside down in its time, and a long series of accepted "truths" about women's place and their role in the family and society are revealed - if not to a loud laughter, then to a silent chuckle.
The film stars the renown Norwegian actors Anne Marie Ottersen, Katja Medbøe and Frøydis Armand in the three main roles, and just like in Husbands, they were allowed to improvise both scenes and they do a great job, and obviously had a blast making it.
The movie is important in Norwegian filmography due to its success and as it was an important part of the debate around female liberation which was a big movement at the time.
I find the movie refreshing, though not what i consider a real classic, maybe because I'm a man myself. But I can appreciate its immense importance in the female liberation debate at the time. It's obviously gone on to be one of the most analyzed and debated movies in Norwegian film history.
The Oslo-born filmmaker Anja Breien was educated at the French film school Hautes Études Cinématographiques in Paris, and Wives was her 3rd feature film. Four years leater she entered the main competition at the Cannes Film Festival (as the first Norwegian) with her fifth feature "Next of Kin".
Wives is considered important in Norwegian filmography because it was a huge succed leading it to be released in 22 countries, which was astonishing for a Norwegian movie at the time. It also lead way for the huge success of the animation feature Hinchcliffe Grand Prix which cam elater the same year, which lead to be the biggest Norwegian movie release ever in Norway, and a huge hit also abroad. Both considered huge break throughs for Norwegian movie industry.
The movie is also important because it led to "Wives - 10 years after" in 1985, and "Wives 3" in 1996, both by Breien with the same actors and film teams. There also were plans for a fourth outing in the 2000's but it never materialized. So it was the first sequel-movie in Norwegian film history, not being a pure comedy follow-up.
This movie is made available in 2024 when it was released on interregional Blu-Ray Disk by Norwegian Film Classics as the 30th release in a new series with classics, NFK0030, with subtitles in English, and is supposed to be held in stock for film lovers.
