Caution: There will be spoilers!
The Woman, directed by Lucky McKee, is a horror movie where the supposed villain turns out to be the one who saves the day, and the so-called "victims" are the true monsters.
In the grand tradition of horror cinema, The Woman is not merely a scary movie: it is a commentary about some aspect of our society seen through the exaggerated lens of gore and violence. In this case, The Woman takes on domestic abuse, what it means to be "civilized", and the patriarchy and shows (with a complete lack of subtlety, as is common in horror films) that the real monsters of the world don't hide in caves or cellars, waiting to jump out at us: instead, they walk among us in the form of rapists, abusers, and those wishing to control and manipulate us.
In The Woman, Chris Cleek--attorney, husband, and father--goes hunting and discovers a feral woman (Pollyanna McIntosh) living in the woods on his property. He captures her, chains her in his cellar, and informs his family that they are all going to participate in the woman's "civilization". It becomes clear that Chris (and his son, Brian, who eagerly follows in his dad's abusive footsteps) is the one who needs to be tamed. Chris Cleek appears to the outside world to be a handsome, goofy, normal guy--maybe with a few alpha male tendencies, but overall a decent guy. Behind closed doors, however, Chris beats his meek wife (played by the lovely Angela Bettis) and controls his children with an iron fist. His attempts to civilize the feral woman include beating her, starving her, and raping her. In time, his son begins to get in on the torture, and that's when things really hit the fan.
The climax of The Woman contain a few twists--including a very bizarre one involving one of the Cleek's daughters--while still being pretty predictable. Of course, Chris Cleek gets what's coming to him when the feral woman finally gets loose. It's pretty gory, but not as disturbing as what Chris puts his captive through.
Some who have see this movie claim that it's some kind of feminazi man-hating propaganda because the film portrays Chris Cleek as a misogynist sociopath who beats, rapes, and controls the women in his family as he sees fit (and in one disturbing scene tells his daughter that a woman's [every woman's] job is to sexually service men), while the women in the film are either the victims of Chris or the avengers. The film could indeed be read as a warning against men (who represent civilization) who feel that they have the right and the duty to control women (representing nature). And I kinda dig that--especially these days, given how the whole birth control and abortion war is playing out on the political stage. But in the end, I thinkMcKee wanted to make a film that, above all, questions what it means to be "civilized". Just because Chris puts on nice clothes and goes to a good job every day doesn't make him less of an animal underneath. And, conversely, just because the woman snarls, bites, and bares her teeth doesn't mean she commits violence without reason: in the end, she only kills those who have harmed her, and leaves those who helped her alone. The feral woman has more principles than her supposedly more evolved captor.
So if you're in the mood for a cathartic feminist exploitation picture (and who isn't!?) in which men who hurt women are violently punished--but don't want to sit through The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo again--The Woman is a good bet. Again, it's about as subtle as a sledgehammer, but who sees horror films for their subtlety?
4 out of 5 stars
No comments:
Post a Comment