Review of Antonia's Line (1995) by Max M — 05 Jul 2006

[font=Arial][size=3]Intersting that I viewed this film after watching "shallow hal". I almost hit the stop button during the first scenes but was captivated by the continued accrual of characters comming to the farmhouse to live. It is a feminist film and may be viewed as such. Fairly good character development with good acting. The plot is rather basic: a mature woman and her adult daughter return to to the family farm after WWII to live and work the land. First they befriend the village idot and adopt him and eventually the retarded daughter of the evil farm neighbor. Then a prostitue with two young children from the city. Pretty soon the farm is filled with women and children living happily without husbands or men. (the exception being the village idiot and priest) [/size][/font].

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[font=Arial][size=3]As some reviewers have pointed out, it is a feminist fairytale. I would say that it is a feminist [b][i]urban [/i][/b]fairytale. My first negative impression while viewing the film was, "when do these women work in the fields?". Granted that having a large supply of childcare available would allow some of the women to work the farm but the oversupply of children implies many mouths to feed. Eventually the plot progresses to the 1970's and 1980's and the farm has supprizingly aquired a new tractor and automoblies while the women continue to pop out children like thier sows. For anyone that has lived on a farm and tried to make a living doing so, you soon realize the 'urban' part of the fantasy....'its easy to make a living at farming'. I would have been more impressed with the film had they shown the women gutting and butchering a pig or two or walking in from the fields late and too tired for a glass of wine.[/size][/font].

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[font=Arial][size=3]Instead their effort is expended on artistic painting, art school, emotion charged personal conflicts, battling rapes, etc. What we do see is women enjoying life without men, except for the occasional sperm donar.[/size][/font].

[font=Arial][size=3] The film is of interest and will keep the viewer's attention and there are some humorous scenes good for a chuckle. A memorable flick that unfortuately ends with a whimper. A true lesbian urban apartment dweller's fastasy of moving to a small country village and all that might entail. Subtitled.[/size][/font].

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