It is widely felt that female characters in
film have been restricted to the easy categories that classical narratives and
familiar genres demand of them (the typical complaint is that women in films are
either 'virgins, mothers or whores'). There is certainly some truth in this
view. However, across the history of British cinema we can see the development
of an impressive variety of female characters and protagonists. One might even
argue that by comparison with Hollywood, British cinema, with its perennial
concern for realism, its desire to speak about ordinary lives and social
concerns and its comparative lack of emphasis upon superficial beauty and
glamour, has permitted a greater breadth of female representation. Thus today's
British cinema finds a place for actors as varied as Helena Bonham-Carter, Kathy
Burke, Judi Dench, Jane Horrocks, Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Samantha Morton,
Kristen Scott-Thomas, Maggie Smith, Alison Steadman, Emma Thompson, Julie
Walters and Catherine Zeta-Jones.
It's undeniable that, despite this variety,
women on film have been more often restricted to familial or domestic roles than
have men. While a number of famous female protagonists have been presented as
strong models of motherhood (as in Poor Cow (d. Ken Loach, 1967) and A
Taste of Honey (d. Tony Richardson, 1961)), we have rarely seen women whose
priority is to pursue and develop their ambitions, talents or vocations (see,
for example, The Red Shoes (d. Michael Powell/Emeric Pressburger, 1948),
Educating Rita (d. Lewis Gilbert, 1983), and Little Voice (UK/US,
d. Mark Herman, 1998)). Female characters who are uninterested in motherhood and
domesticity are frequently depicted as lacking something or paying a price for
their success. Those who do pursue larger ambitions are often portrayed as being
in some sense naïve, manipulated by other (male) characters in the pursuit of
their dreams.
As British cinema has developed, the number of
female protagonists has increased, and female characters play a larger part in
propelling the narrative forward. For example, where the British New Wave films
of the 1960s largely confined their female characters to motherhood and
domesticity, leaving the male protagonists to speak out about larger social
concerns, many contemporary social realist films allow female characters greater
power over their own destinies.
The representation of women in film depends as
much on issues of production, institutions and genres as on social, political
and historical contexts. Gainsborough melodramas, Carry On films, Hammer
horrors, heritage films and recent 'Brit-grit' realist films all necessarily
place limitations upon the kinds of roles open to female (and male) actors.
Yet even within the most conventional of
studios and genres, and within the most unpromising films, it's possible to find
women who offer alternative and positive representations: for example the
powerful female characters played by Helena Bonham-Carter and Emma Thompson in
1980s and '90s heritage films, or the charismatic, if troubled, characters
played by Julie Christie in earlier films like Darling (d. John
Schlesinger, 1965).
The situation for non-white women is slightly
less rosy, in that fewer representations exist, but we still have the varied and
careful characterisations found in Burning an Illusion (d. Menelik
Shabazz, 1981), Bhaji on the Beach (d. Gurinder Chadha, 1993), East is
East (d. Damien O'Donnell, 1999) and Secrets and Lies (d. Mike Leigh,
1996).
Sarah Cardwell
Further Reading
Sue Harper Women in British Cinema: Mad, Bad and
Dangerous to know (Continuum, London, 2000)
|
