Here’s a list of our favourite women-oriented movies of 2015 which we have lovingly compiled for you...
Here’s a list of our favourite women-oriented movies of 2015 which we have lovingly compiled for you...
Room
Told through the eyes of five-year-old-Jack (Jacob Tremblay), ‘Room’ is a thrilling and emotional tale that celebrates the resilience and power of the human spirit. Director Lenny Abrahamson’s adaptation of Emma Donoghue’s novel is an exploration of the boundless love between a mother and her child under the most harrowing of circumstances. Brie Larson plays Ma, a young woman held captive in a tiny room with her five-year-old son Jack (Jacob Tremblay). Their only view of the outside comes via a skylight in the ceiling. To Jack, Room is the world... But while it’s home to Jack, to Ma it’s a prison. ‘Room’ is a cinematic miracle. It deals with intensely difficult subject matter in a way that’s honest without being manipulative, and forthright without becoming depressing. It is a stunning, soul-stirring, not-to-be-missed film.
Still Alice
Elevated by a gripping performance from Julianne Moore, ‘Still Alice’ is a heartfelt drama that honours its delicate themes with bravery and sensitivity. The story revolves around Alice Howland, happily married with three grown children, is a renowned linguistics professor who starts to forget words. When she receives a diagnosis of Early-Onset Alzheimer’s Disease, Alice and her family find their bonds thoroughly tested. Her struggle to stay connected to who she once was is frightening, heartbreaking, and inspiring. Based on the book by Lisa Genova, directors Richard Glatzer and Wash Westmoreland maintain a steady tone, using mostly straightforward shooting and warm colours to let the emotions of the film come through with more subtlety than bravado.
Clouds of Sils Maria
Bolstered by a trio of powerful performances from its talented leads, ‘Clouds of Sils Maria’ is an absorbing, richly detailed drama with impressive depth and intelligence. Directed by Olivier Assayas, ‘Clouds’ is predominantly about Binoche’s Maria Enders, a famed actress who is asked to revive the play that made her famous 20 years ago when she played an alluring young girl who drove her boss to committing suicide. Set in the Swiss Alps, the film has the juicy pull of a knowing showbiz satire, about vanity and insecurity and all that great actress-y stuff. The film treats its women with respect and insight, and the relationship of Binoche’s and Stewart’s characters has a depth and nuance almost never seen in mainstream cinema.
Mustang
‘Mustang’ is a stunning debut feature by Deniz Gamze Ergüven about five sisters in rural Turkey. Both a playful portrait of sisterhood and a powerful examination of burgeoning feminism, the film follows five sisters, growing up in a conservative family in a small Turkish village, where they rebel against overbearing treatment by their aunt and grandmother more concerned with perception and tradition than allowing the girls their physical and emotional freedom. Gorgeously filmed, Mustang weighs a dream vision of girlhood against the much harsher reality of what it means to be a woman in a restrictive culture.
Mistress America
This is one of those light, airy comedies about flaky, compelling women with some dramatic overtones that remind one of ‘Desperately Seeking Susan’. Directed by Noah Baumbach, the film is about 20 or 30 something women pursuing high jinks in the Big Apple. In ‘Mistress America’, Tracy (Lola Kirke) is a lonely college freshman in New York, having neither the exciting university experience nor the glamorous metropolitan lifestyle she envisioned. But when she is taken in by her soon-to-be stepsister, Brooke (Greta Gerwig) - a resident of Times Square and adventurous gal about town - she is rescued from her disappointment and seduced by Brooke’s alluringly mad schemes. ‘Mistress America’ brings out the best in collaborators Noah Baumbach and Greta Gerwig, distilling its star’s charm and director’s dark wit into a ferociously funny co-written story.
Brooklyn
Set in the early 1950s, ‘Brooklyn’ is the tale of Eilis Lacey (Saoirse Ronan), a young Irish girl’s lonely journey across the Atlantic from her homeland to the United States, and from adolescence into adulthood. Directed by John Crowley, the film is a welcome relief from today’s technical marvels that excel in the superficial. Adapted from a novel by Colm Toibin, ‘Brooklyn’ is escapist entertainment that also is full of depth and turmoil.
Inside Out
Directed by Peter Docter, ‘Inside Out’ is an accessible, entertaining, lively, funny, unpredictable animated movie that plays well for both kids and adults. The film is set in the head of a young girl, Riley, where five emotions - Joy, Anger, Disgust, Fear and Sadness, try to lead the girl through her life. ‘Inside Out’ is a bold yet personal exploration of a world that has not been portrayed on film before: the brain. And it changes the way we view the world.
Phoenix
Phoenix is a well-acted, smartly crafted war drama. Directed by Christian Petzold, the movie is a spellbinding mystery of identity, illusion, and deception unfolds against the turmoil of post-World War II Germany. In ‘Phoenix’ German actress Nina Hoss plays a concentration-camp survivor whose disfigured face is rebuilt by a plastic surgeon. The husband she still loves, has presumed her dead and now doesn’t recognize her, though he’s not above using her as a pawn in a deceitful inheritance scheme. Director Christian Petzold has given us a noir romance of vast, bruised beauty, stylish on the surface but capable of cutting deep.
Carol
Directed by Todd Hayne, ‘Carol’ is one of the best romantic movies of the year. Adapted from Patricia Highsmith’s novel ‘The Price of Salt’, the painstakingly delicate ‘Carol’ has all of Haynes’ tasteful hallmarks but also a sense of immediacy and verisimilitude not seen in his earlier efforts. And more crucially, Blanchett and Mara give captivating performances that illuminate a bygone age of femininity, as well as oppression since their romance is so forbidden by all those around them. An honest story emerges to reveal the resilience of the heart in the face of change.
