Female Perversions

The title of this film is dangerously misleading because the film might be thought to be pornographic, and many people who might otherwise find it interesting will not see it. (The contrary is also the case, that all the wrong people will want to watch it because they are titillated by the title. They will also react with violent antipathy, in the wake of their disappointment. The choice of title seems to have been a deliberate act of provocation.) The German title, translated, is 'Fantasies of a Woman', which is rather milder. The film is a feminist essay, and the title is intended to be ironical, the 'female perversions' referred to being those imposed upon women by a conventional male-dominated society, so that for instance being a housewife is regarded as one type of 'female perversion'. It seems somehow natural that the wildly experimental Tilda Swinton would have to be in this film: indeed, how could she say no? How could such a film be made without her? She seems to be everywhere that people and films are pushing the envelope. As usual, she is breathtakingly brilliant. A surprising addition to the cast is Frances Fisher, who made such an impact as Angie, the red-headed waitress in the diner, in the intriguing television series 'Strange Luck' in 1995-6, at about this same time. Here she does some rather unnerving 'exotic dance' routines, which all goes to show something, I'm still trying to decide what, but whatever the reason for this is, she does it very well and one would think she had been a stripper or a showgirl all her life if one did not know she had instead been an actress. Tilda Swinton is electric here as a career gal who is so tense she might snap like a wire stretched too taut. She is about to be made a judge, God help us! (Many judges are crazy or weird anyway, but she would be more so than most, as the film makes all too clear.) Tilda Swinton portrays an extreme neurotic, and 'looking good' is essential to her, so she is always doing and re-doing her lipstick (an insecure woman's last refuge). She is a control freak and insanely superstitious. For instance, if she cannot wear her white suit for an interview with the Governor of California (not Arnie, a fictional one) for a judgeship, because it is 'lucky', she falls apart. Her kleptomaniac sister sees to it that she cannot wear the suit to the interview. Things are pretty tense like this throughout, and there are many fantasy elements to this film written, produced, and directed by women with women for women. I don't believe this film can really be excused by a 'women searching for their identities' justification, and if one approaches it earnestly from that angle (which may have been the earnest intention of the makers, for all I know), it is a failure which verges on parody sometimes, and has pretentious aspects. The merits of the film are different, and concern the intensity of portrayal and the mysterious depths of character revealed, especially of hidden or suppressed motivations. The lesbian aspects of the film are not central, but merely a part of the evolving self-realization of Tilda Swinton's character. I am firmly convinced that men can never understand women and women can never understand men. I first came to realize this in my teens when the novelist Pearl Buck said to me that 'men and women are completely different species and can never hope to understand one another'. That shocked me a lot, I never forgot it, and it has been repeatedly verified. I have now come to the conclusion that Nature has designed things this way. The imperative of Nature is the propagation of the species. If men and women understood each other, that would get in the way of propagation, and many fewer babies would be born. Consequently, evolutionary pressures have seen to it that this can never happen, in order to safeguard the future of the species. That is why men like myself who do not regard women as inferior beings (as many of my gender definitely do) are so intrigued by 'the mystery of women' and interested to see attempts to make films like this one where women contemplate women and try to understand themselves. It is true that there are no admirable characters on offer here, and that they are all pretty horrible people. Nevertheless, this film manages to be fascinating, although it is understandable that it would cause a lot of contradictory reactions, some of them violently opposed to it, and some admiring and appreciative. If we want films to punch us in the ribs instead of putting us to sleep, this one certainly qualifies. This is what is called 'independent film making', and long may it continue.

By now we are used to it, when sexuality is involved, the judgments are conflicting, perhaps tending towards denigration. We should reflect on this, without disturbing psychoanalysis, but it is a fact. Everything is accentuated if the topic concerns the female sexual sphere. It will also happen in 2008 with Valérie - Diary of a nymphomaniac always directed by women. Perhaps a doubt arises on the fact that perhaps women are more "capable" of tackling the subject than male directors, whose production with a porn vision borders on the ridiculous! Duty premise to talk about the film in question which is inspired by an essay by the late psychoanalyst Louise J. Kapplan Female Perversions: The Temptations of Emma Bovary. Kapplan, it should be remembered, was the leader in the 1960s, in the demand of the nascent feminist movement, for a sexuality free from the oppressive bonds of a fundamentally phallocratic society. Streitfeld made her the thesis, expressed in the essay, that female sexuality, although free to express itself, is not immune to the impulses it has to deal with. That she then succeeded in transferring this reflection into the film is a cause for debate, but we cannot deny the courage to have proposed a thorny and easy subject to criticism, and she deserves the credit for having chosen an actress like Swinton. perfect in the role. All this leads to a positive evaluation of the film, although not free from some stylistic and writing imperfections!

It seems to me that quite a lot of people really dislike this film, when in reality, it's not very warranted. Oh sure, it's very weird, sexual, very "artsy" in the way you know will annoy a quite large number of people. I found it fascinating, though. I found it unpredictable and fun (until the pretty heavy final 15 minutes) and most importantly, I was able to see the glorious, best- actress-alive Tilda Swinton in a very different sort of role, a sort of role that I had never seen her do before but which she nails. She's very seductive and cold here, very unlikable and Swinton manages to make it all work gloriously, along with an impressive Amy Madigan as the most important secondary character.

A surprisingly compelling artsy-indie type movie. I usually dislike obtrusive direction, including weird fantasy sequences, but these worked quite well here. This appears to be a consciously feminist project, as the directing, writing, and producing credits are almost all female, as well as all of the important characters. The cast was full of incredible actresses. The point of view character is played masterfully by Tilda Swinton, who was intense but yet confused and damaged. Amy Madigan nailed her also damaged character. Other supporting actresses who are excellent in their parts, and beautiful to boot, include Laila Robins, Frances Fisher, Paulina Porizkova, and especially Karen Sillas. Definitely worth seeing.

Eve Stephens (Tilda Swinton) is a driven attorney about to become a judge. She uses her femininity to get what she wants and to rise to the top of her profession.

She has passions outside of work. She craves sexual satisfaction. Not emotional attachments mind you, but the satisfaction of satisfying sexual hunger. The difficulty in balancing the two is driving her mad, and makes for an excellent film about the role women play in the corporate world.

She is not satisfied with the executives in her firm; she also picks up Renee (Karen Sillas), a new psychiatrist in an elevator.

Her sister, Madelyn Stephens (Amy Madigan), fulfills her erotic desire by shoplifting. Eve is forced to deal with her problem to keep on track for the judgeship.

She also has problems dealing wither her replacement (Paulina Porizkova), who is considerably more attractive.

I am not sure about the fantasy sequences with what I guess to be an Earthwoman. There was enough interesting characters besides her sister - a woman who runs a bridal store (Laila Robins), a stripper (Frances Fisher) and an adolescent tomboy named Ed (Dale Shuger), who is into self-mutilation - that they could have kept it real.