TCM saves me again with "Women Make Film" a fourteen hour documentary which is a Master Class in filmmaking. The one twist is that every film used as an example of film technique is directed by a woman. The documentary is, ironically, created by a man, Mark Cousins. It is narrated by Tilda Swinton, among others. Her voice is evocative but can be hypnotic. In general I watch one episode a week so I can absorb it all. TCM is backing up "Women Make Film" by broadcasting 100 of the films mentioned in the documentary. It's all ... breathtaking. I actually take notes during the documentary, learning new things about the structure, style and rhythm of film. And then, I watch the films. As many as I can, anyway. They are all over the map. Good to Great. Silents to contemporary. Realism, Romance, Horror, Documentary, Action -- just everything. They come from every corner of the globe and are shot with great precision and almost planned sloppiness. High budget to low. The thing is, they are just films. Not films by women, but films. I don't know that anyone watching them would say "this is a movie made by a woman" or even "this is a feminist film" although there are feminist threads in the most male-oriented productions. The essential question is whether or not these films would change if they were made by men. That is unanswerable. But watching this documentary, and these films, is fascinating. Only 11 more hours, and some 94 films, to go!
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