Wanda

Last weekend I went to the Brattle Theater to watch Wanda. It is probably one of the few movies in 1970s that is directed by a female directors and portrays a woman’s identity crisis. I would like to talk about the gender aspect of the film in comparison with John Cassavetes’ A Woman Under the Influence (1974), Bonnie and Clyde, and A New Leaf. Wanda is similar to another road film — Bonnie and Clyde. But what is most different between the two is the films’ visual styles and attitudes towards the couples. Bonnie and Clyde definitely romanticized the true story in the history, glorifying their journey to be seen as a tragic heroic story. Along their journey, they are portrayed by the media at that time as the heroic celebrities who fights capitalism. Compared to Bonnie, it seems that this film is anti-climatic and bland. The “roadtrip” starts when the couple is simply running away from robbing the bar, and the woman does not even know the man’s identity and his intentions. As they are on the way, the plot seems to be going really slow, without any exciting actions. Even the ending bank robbery seems too bland, and at the end the film ends ambivalently with her sitting in the bar. The film is just like a directionless wandering, and she starts alone, and eventually reaches nowhere, but still alone.
Unlike the movie A New Leaf, this film portrays and respects the subjectivity of a woman. Both films are directed by female directors, and both directors were in their own films as the female protagonists. However, as Leaf is mainly about how the male character pursues the female character, the male character is always the focus of the plot and the camera. The female character in Leaf does not have any agency, as she is portrayed as a stereotypical female scientist without any social skills. The female character is depicted as stereotypical and empty, as a knowledgeable female botanist who discovered an entire new species can only have limited social and survival skills. On the other hand, in the film Wanda, we can see the character as a subject, even though she is experiencing being exiled from her world. She is passive throughout the film, as she is always driven by the plot. She never makes any choices out of her own will, as she could only goes along with her fate. She is definitely not smart, and clueless about her future, as we see her following the two men to get help. She meets the first man and tries to make him to bring her with him after they sleep together. She meets the male protagonist and essentially follows him all the way to robbing the bank. But the film captures her agency, even though she is passive. The camera understands her as a full character, instead of some stock figure. Subjectively, I have empathy for her, because she has the subjectivity just like people in real life. I got angry when I saw her purse got stolen in the theater, and I was concerned when she loses her job. Following her journey to redefine herself, I see her struggles in conversation with all other films’ theme of “A Man’s Struggle”. Last but not the least, the focus on the mental development of a woman reminds me of another film I watched — A Woman Under the Influence. Both stories described a series of events that eventually led to the mental breakdown of the female protagonists. In Woman, the main character is diagnosed to have mental issues, and then is sent to an institution by her husband. Then upon her return, her husband is clearly unprepared and does not know how to help her get better. Then she becomes even more psychologically devastated. We can say that Woman is really a movie about the female subjectivity because we follow her struggles as a woman in her domestic sphere. Similarly, in Wanda, we were able to connect with Wanda, and see her struggles as a divorced woman looking for her new identity. Both of the films were pioneer that they focused on the female’s situations in both their families and the society.

Notes:

Barbara Loden: she was the mistress of Elia Kazan Tight budget, and 16mm It won the Venice international film award She is not truly of the director of the film; Nicholas Proferes locates the camera and then edited the film The portray of the domestic The meaning of the film should be shown implicitly Gender roles are The passivity No moments of joy The mismatch of the proportions o the film: the opening as slow, and the plot seems really in rush; 2 different and in contrast editorial points; he is more morally simple She needs a male protector The reality is more than the artistic values? The ending of the film:

• is similar to the 400 blows
• long take, in camera editing
• the conversation we cannot hear, because it is meaningless
• she is one step further into the darkness No change: the same note as its begin; the integrated bleakness No non diegetic sounds The mall as the capital excess