Feminist Tendencies
Feminism as a concept has gone in and out of vogue since the first suffragette demanded the right to vote, but throughout history there have always been remarkable women, prepared to claim their power in the name of a cause ('Ride to Freedom: The Rosa Parks Story', 'Veronica Guerin'), or just to rediscover their own self-worth ('Shirley Valentine', 'My Brilliant Career'). This collection does not only contain films about the political struggle of women to achieve equality ('Iron Jawed Angels'), if it did it would be a very short list because despite the fact that the rise of women in the workforce and in politics was one of the defining movements of the 20th century, very few films have been made on the subject - filmmaking being still a largely male-dominated pusuit. Now, as women are making films in greater numbers than ever, our own Niki Caro is a good example of someone ready and willing to tell a story about the oppression, and ultimate triumph of women in the 'post-feminist' 1980s ('North Country'). Perhaps women as an audience are now ready and willing to hear their own stories.
Butterflies: Series 3 (1981)
7.2/10
Starring: Wendy Craig, Geoffrey Palmer, Nicholas Lyndhurst, Andrew Hall, Bruce Montague
In the third series Ria (Wendy Craig) remains frustrated by her mundane life with her successful, though dull, dentist husband, and two glib teenage s... Read more
Grace of My Heart (1996)
6.7/10
Director: Allison Anders
Starring: Illeana Douglas, Matt Dillon, Eric Stoltz, Bruce Davison, Patsy Kensit, John Tur...
Illeana Douglas gives a riveting performance as fictional singer/songwriter Denise Waverly, who struggles for over a decade to gain the recognition fo... Read more
Lackawanna Blues (2005)
7.9/10
Director: George C Wolfe
Starring: S Epatha Merkerson, Julie Benz, Robert A Bradley, Thomas Jefferson Byrd, Kathlee...
Based on a one-man show by Ruben Santiago-Hudson (played by Hill Harper) this is the inspiring story of Nanny Crosby (S. Epatha Merkerson) a big-heart... Read more
Harlan County War (2000)
6.5/10
Director: Tony Bill
Starring: Holly Hunter, Stellan Skarsgard, Ted Levine, Wayne Robson
Based around the 1974 Kentucky miners strike, Holly Hunter stars as the wife and daughter of coal miners who became victims of the poor conditions at... Read more
The Hours (2002)
7.6/10
Director: Stephen Daldry
Starring: Claire Danes, Jeff Daniels, Ed Harris, Nicole Kidman, Julianne Moore, John C Rei...
Nicole Kidman delivers an Oscar-winning performance as author Virginia Woolf in this poignant tale that focuses on three women, living in different ti... Read more
Mary Queen of Scots (Blu-Ray) (2018)
6.3/10
Director: Josie Rourke
Starring: Saoirse Ronan, Margot Robbie, Guy Pearce, David Tennant, Jack Lowden, Joe Alwyn,...
Queen of France at 16 and widowed at 18, Mary Stuart defies pressure to remarry. Instead, she returns to her native Scotland to reclaim her rightful t... Read more
Courage Under Fire ( Blu-ray ) (1996)
6.6/10
Director: Edward Zwick
Starring: Bronson Pinchot, Denzel Washington, Lou Diamond Phillips, Matt Damon, Meg Ryan,...
Denzel Washington plays a guilt-ridden army officer investigating pilot Meg Ryan, a candidate for a posthumous Medal of Honor for heroism during the P... Read more
Prisoner Cell Block H - Volume 1 (1979)
Starring: Elspeth Ballantyne, Sheila Florance, Val Lehman, Fiona Spence
Attaining cult status around the world, this Australian series set in a women's prison was a gritty no-nonsense drama that tackled issues such as homo... Read more
Not Without My Daughter (1990)
6.3/10
Director: Brian Gilbert
Starring: Sally Field, Alfred Molina, Sheila Rosenthal
The harrowing true story of an American wife who returns with her husband and daughter to his Iranian homeland during the Khomeini regime, then finds... Read more
Vera Drake (2004)
7.7/10
Director: Mike Leigh
Starring: Imelda Staunton, Phil Davis, Peter Wight, Daniel Mays, Alex Kelly
Vera Drake (Imelda Staunton - Academy Award Nominee Best Actress 2005) lives with her husband Stan (Phil Davis) and their two adult children, Sid and... Read more