Saturday Night At The Movies

The Other Half Of The Sky

By Dennis Hartley

With Nancy P in da house and Hillary in the race, I’m actually thinking 2007 could be the year my depression finally breaks (started back around, oh, November of 2000). I think it’s a good time to screen some female empowerment films!

My personal favorite on the theme is an outstanding and overlooked drama from 1995 that was originally presented as a three-part miniseries in the UK, The Politician’s Wife. Juliet Stevenson delivers a tour-de-force performance as Flora, the staunchly supportive wife of Duncan Matlock, an ambitious rising star in England’s conservative Tory party.

A scandal erupts when Duncan is caught with his pants down by the notorious British tabloid press. His fling with an “escort” girl (Minnie Driver) quickly becomes fertile ground for muckraking, as he happens to be the Minister of Family (oops). At first, Flora suffers in silence, desperately wanting to believe her husband’s assurance that it was only a regrettable one night stand. She caves to pressure from Duncan’s handlers (including her own father) to keep a brave face in public, “for the sake of the party”.

But when a conscience-stricken member of the Minister’s inner circle slips Flora some irrefutable evidence proving that the “fling” was in fact a torrid year-long affair, her pain turns to bitterness and anger. Fueled by the deep sense of betrayal and growing awareness of Duncan’s wanton abuse of his powers, she hatches a clever and methodical scheme to subvert his political capital (i.e. to drain his precious bodily fluids, figuratively speaking).

The beauty of Paula Milne’s script lies in the subtle execution of Flora’s revenge. Avoiding the usual “Hell hath no fury” clichés, Milne’s protagonist (not unlike Livia in I, Claudius) finds her empowerment through an assimilated understanding of what makes the members of this particular boy’s club tick; she is then able to orchestrate events in such a manner that they all end up falling on their own swords (keep your friends close, but your enemies closer). Intelligently written, splendidly acted, and not to be missed.

Regular Digby readers have likely screened my next pick many times, but it wouldn’t hurt to brush up on our cheerleading skills and see The Contender again. Any movie featuring Jeff Bridges as the prez, who appoints Joan Allen (brilliant performance) as the successor when his VP kicks the bucket is aces in my book. Hell, just the part about a VP kicking the bucket alone makes me moist. Gary Oldman is scary as an ultra conservative senator who opposes the nom. So the wingnuts decried it as a Hollywood liberal fantasy fulfillment. Fuck ‘em. Watch it again, with a Republican under each arm.

Encore! A Woman Called Golda, First Monday in October, Bandit Queen, Evita, Elizabeth I, Norma Rae, Erin Brockovich, Silkwood, Gorillas In The Mist, An Angel At My Table, The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman, The Fortunes & Misfortunes of Moll Flanders (PBS), Antonia’s Line, Prime Suspect (series),The Unbearable Lightness of Being, Thelma & Louise, Jackie Brown,Working Girl, Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore

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