Film Review（UK premiere) : ‘This Woman’-- Feminism at its vital best
Author: Lucía Muñoz
Translator: Yingjie Wang
The film review is part of the MINT Emerging Critics Scheme's outcome
English version article
This Women (这个女人，2022)
Director: Alan Zhang.
Producers: Yong Liao.
Screenplay by: Manning.
Cinematographer: Alan Zhang and Kun Liu.
Music by: QINGZI
Screening Time: Fri 2 Feb 19:30
Venue: Keswick Alhambra Cinema, 36 St John's St, Keswick CA12 5AG, UK
GET TICKETS HERE: keswickalhambra.co.uk
Synopsis: Beibei is a 35-year-old woman who just lost her job and tries to reorganise her life both in the economic and sentimental/familiar aspects.
Shotgun Commentary: breathtakingly beautiful story about a woman’s fight for freedom to choose her own path in life.
Review
This Woman sets a clear intent from the beginning. While Beibei (Hihi Lee), the main character, begins talking about how much she loves being a wife and a mom, we later discover that her definition of those roles could not be further from the traditional ones.
Chaos, girl
The structure of the feature is quite chaotic beginning to end. While the timeline is straight, the amount of things going on and their haphazardness challenges the audience to catch up. It resembles arriving at a play in the second or third act. Then again, that is how it always feels when you meet a person for the first time. This chaos adds realism, it reminds you that life isn’t always organised or clearly set.
Opposite to its construction, the pace is absolutely wonderful. It provides a sense of order in what would otherwise be a chaotic recollection of events in the life of Beibei. The story is gripping and hits all the right spots. It is not easy to make day-to-day occurrences exciting, much less as relevant and powerful as This Woman is (pun very much intended).
It’s a man’s world
Beibei’s decisions, thoughts and beliefs are, whether you agree with them or not, very much justified. She has been put in a certain position by society and she is making the best of it while trying to find herself and discover what it is that SHE wants out of life. Not her parents, or husband, or lovers. This is just one from many stories that can be found in different versions all throughout the world, which makes it incredibly relevant and its sharing key to build a better future for women everywhere.
The film is very clearly a documentary in form. The non-fictional format serves as a constant reminder for the spectator that this is a real story and it keeps alive the idea that it represents the situation of a lot of women, not only Beibei. The characters featured are the biggest giveaway of the universality of the plot.
Representation and so much more
Beibei is a woman that got married and had a child way too early. Her husband is an adulterer, and so she decides to pay him the same courtesy.
The couple doesn’t live together, they barely see each other or their kid. This immature behaviour towards relationships and relatives is completely normal considering her age. She formed a family because that was what her mother wanted, which is why she doesn’t want to take part of it. It was not her wish nor her decision.
This mother-daughter dynamic is very common, parents tend to project their wishes and regrets onto their children and no one feels the pressure as badly as daughters when it comes to getting a partner and forming a family.
Guess who pays the price
A big part of the world is still stuck in the old-fashioned idea that women are not whole if they are not mothers and wives. This is an unfair task that is drilled into us since childhood and it only leads to unwilling mothers who hate their predicament and their children, ultimately benefiting no one.
As for her lovers, they are all immature and simple. They want her for what they can get from her, but they are not at all interested in giving back. Everyone has known, and maybe unfortunately dated, a few people like this. Beibei’s relationships are messy and doomed to failure due to their nature and the personalities of those involved. However, that is exactly how these situations usually happen, which makes them very relatable.
Overbearing mothers, cheating husbands and men taking what they want and giving nothing back are, sadly, the bread and butter of the average woman. The unfairness of this situation, as well as the strength to push through it and build your own way, are themes that deserve society’s attention. Not only so those mistakes are avoided, but also to show women everywhere that the possibility to fight back and do as you wish is there. It is real and tangible.
Advice to take from this movie:
Getting married too soon leads to disaster.
Having kids just because your parents want you to leads to neglected children that will feel sad and empty their whole lives.
There is always a way to fight society's mandates, it just takes a lot of courage and nerve.
What's your take? Have you watched This Woman? Did you emphatise with Beibei or would you do things differently? Don’t hesitate to let me know your thoughts in the comments section below or leave a message in my contact page! For more reviews and cinema-related articles check out the rest of my blog! :D
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中文版影评：《这个女人》——女性主义淋漓尽显
《这个女人》（2022）
导演：阿烂 制片：廖勇
编剧：蔓宁 摄影：阿烂、刘坤
音乐：QINGZI
展映时间：2024年2月2日（周五）19:30
展映地点：Keswick Alhambra Cinema, 36 St John's St, Keswick CA12 5AG, UK
梗概：贝贝是个刚刚失业的35岁女人。对于自己的生活，她在经济和情感/家庭方面上下求索。
快评：影片讲述一个女人为自由选择人生道路而坚持探索的故事，令人叹为观止。
影评
《这个女人》的开场即为整部电影定了调。尽管主角贝贝（李害害）先谈起来的是她有多喜欢当一个妻子和母亲，我们随后发现她对这两个角色的定义与传统相差甚远。
混乱与女性
这部电影从头到尾的结构相当混乱。虽然影片叙事遵循的是线性时间，但发生的事件数量多、关联度不高，给观影带来了挑战。观众会觉得像是错过了一部戏剧的第一幕或前两幕，但这也是初识某人常有的感觉。这样的混乱让影片更具现实主义色彩，因为生活并不总是井然有序。
这部电影的节奏呈现与结构不同的特点，设计极为精妙，让影片对贝贝生活中诸多事件的叙述有了一种秩序感。整个故事扣人心弦、直击人心。要把日常生活展现得引人入胜并非易事。《这个女人》做到了。“这个女人”不仅贴近每个人，而且充满力量。
男人的世界
观众可能不赞同贝贝，但她的决定、想法和信念都是有充足理由支撑的。社会将她置于特定位置，她在这个位置尽力而为，同时也在努力找寻自我，寻找她自己想要的到底是什么，而不是她的父母、丈夫或情人想要什么。类似的故事在全世界数不胜数，因此贝贝这个角色极易引发共情，而讲出这样的故事对世界各地女性来说十分重要。
影片很明显采用了纪录片的形式。这种形式不断提醒观众故事的真实性，并且让贝贝的处境拥有了普适性。该特点也极大影响了影片对人物的塑造。
人物的代表性及诸多延伸
贝贝结婚太早，又过早生育。她丈夫出轨，于是她决定以其人之道还治其人之身。
贝贝和她丈夫分居，两人几乎不见面，也很少看孩子。这种不成熟的处理关系和对待亲人的方式在贝贝的年纪极为正常。她不想承担家庭的责任是因为成家并非她自己的想法和决定，而是她母亲的愿望。
这样的母女关系十分常见。父母总会把自己的愿望和遗憾强加在子女身上。在寻找伴侣和组建家庭方面，没有人比女儿压力更大。
猜猜谁会付出代价
世界上仍有很多人固守着陈旧观念，认为女人如果不结婚不生育就不完整。结婚和生育是女性从小就被灌输要完成的任务。这并不公平，只会让女人不情愿地成为憎恨自身困境和孩子的母亲，最终没有人能受益。
至于贝贝的情人，他们都不成熟且心思简单。他们只向她索取，不考虑回报。所有人都认识一些这样的人，可能还不幸和他们约会过。贝贝的人际关系一团糟且注定会以失败告终，原因在于这些关系的本质和关系双方的性格。观众很容易代入其中，因为贝贝的经历现实生活中常有。
可悲的是，强势的母亲、出轨的丈夫和自私的男人，对普通女性来说就像家常便饭。这种不公及克服不公、开辟新路的力量值得社会关注。若能如此，不仅能避免同样的错误再发生，还能让世界各地的女性看到反抗旧有观念和按自己意愿生活的可能。这并非空谈。
从这部电影中得到的建议:
结婚太早只会以灾难收场。
只因为父母的想法就生小孩会让小孩得不到应有的关注，他们的一生都会被悲伤和空虚笼罩。
社会给人的任务不是板上钉钉的，虽然反抗需要极大的勇气。
