This film addresses the position of women in patriarchy through the prism of psychoanalysis. I love the fragmented use of text, dialog, and image, which echoes the fragmentation of unconscious thought and also subverts the usual way of filmmaking and of portraying women as sexualized objects. The film asks questions which were pertinent at the time and which still are pertinent, e.g. what issues should feminists be fighting on. It leaves these questions unanswered, instead of being a didactic film. Other parts of the film show the drudgery and mundanity of women's traditional role, subverting the idea that women might find this role 'naturally' rewarding and fulfilling. The images of the acrobats in one of the final sections are beautiful and trippy. This is an important, philosophical film.
Review of Riddles of the Sphinx
Riddles of the Sphinx
(1977)
the position of women in patriarchy through the prism of psychoanalysis
11 September 2010