Rated PG-13, 104 minutes.
Director: Sarah Polley
Cast: Rooney Mara, Jessie Buckley, Claire Foy, Judith Ivey, Sheila McCarthy, Ben Whishaw, and Frances McDormand
I am a man. I am a man writing about women. I am a man writing about WOMEN TALKING.
The women in Sarah Polley’s ensemble drama have much to discuss in the aftermath of rampant sexual abuse in a small Mennonite community. The issue of how to respond is the driver. We, the audience, are the passengers, watching as a group of women ranging in age from teenage to twilight sit in a hayloft as they volley back and forth, considering three options.
They can do nothing. They can stand their ground and fight. They can leave. The first is accepting things for what they are and asking forgiveness. The second would be a proportional response but should be used only as a last resort. The third is the best option.
Some want to fight, but most want to leave and start over. The greater cost comes with standing tall. The scarier proposition, though, may be to leave. It’ll take longer to restart, yes, with time being a finite commodity, particularly for the older women. But this option is better than simply doing nothing.
The pain inflicted upon these women is too severe. Mennonite men sneaking into rooms, drugging women and raping them in their sleep is grotesque. The women were fed lies that it might be the work of ghosts or even Satan himself. Though the physical scars, sexual diseases, and pregnancies would make such mystical situations seem like a bunch of poppycock. The recent capture and incarceration of a few of the brethren fleeing also debunk any insinuation of “Satan sexcapades.”
As the remaining men of the community go into town and raise bail for the offenders, they give the women a time-sensitive ultimatum to forgive this matter and put it behind them. They have two days. Failure to comply means they won’t make it through heaven’s pearly gates. They will also be cast out of the community.
Note: Watch and listen to our interviews with Sarah Polley and star Sheila McCarthy here >>
With the setup, Polley gets to work on how the hayloft sorority talks about their current dilemma. Introductions are quick and pointed; their sensibilities direct in how they approach the choices at hand. Salome (Claire Foy) is rage personified. Ona (Rooney Mara), currently pregnant with a child, is restrained and calm. The younguns, Autje and Neitje, feign boredom watching the adults bicker. The older women speak from experience. Then there’s Mariche (Jessie Buckley), who disrespects the entire process. She suffered in silence, and now everyone wants to talk.
August (Ben Whishaw) is the lone male present for the proceedings. He is a schoolteacher taking the minutes like a dutiful secretary. His presence is necessary if only for the fact that none of the women can read or write. The men wouldn’t allow it.
The women speak. They talk over each about what has happened and have a say in what the future means for themselves, their sisters, and their daughters. None of them contradict that rapes didn’t occur. The argument is the response and what it should be.
Having told others about WOMEN TALKING, I would bring up TWELVE ANGRY MEN. Reginald Rose’s 1954 teleplay, rewritten a year later as a stage play before Sidney Lumet’s 1957 film adaptation (12 ANGRY MEN), is a beautifully crafted drama about twelve men in a jury room deciding the guilt or innocence of a defendant who fatally stabbed his father. The entire process surrounds one unanimous verdict holdout and how the men come to better understand one another through deliberations.
While the themes are different, I wouldn’t be shocked if Polley used Lumet’s adaptation as inspiration as to how she wanted her screenplay to be read and recited. These actresses aren’t stage play acting – shouting aloud. They are malleable to shifting tones and temperament, and are able to complement each other even while acting as contrarian.
Having worked with filmmaker Atom Egoyan in front of the camera, acting in his films EXOTICA and THE SWEET HEREAFTER, Polley was well-schooled in projects with personal and communal displacement themes. In WOMEN TALKING, she maintains a visual acuity without being exceedingly dramatic. The barn’s large interior allows the women to stand and move about and not feel constricted. A short reprieve compared to the sect to which they belong.
To be clear, Polley’s film, though set within a Mennonite community, is not about the lifestyle. The torment they have suffered is not insular to them alone. It is a microcosm of a systemic disease that continues to grow and evolve.
Is talking enough? Far from it. But it’s a start.
Grade: A+
