On Criterion, I watched the 1982 Dutch film A Question of Silence, written and directed by Marleen Gorris. It was controversial at the time, about three women, strangers to each other who randomly decide to murder a male shopowner in a dress shop when he catches one of them stealing. They each meet with a criminal psychiatrist, Janine van den Bos (Cox Habbema) who is assigned to their case, and she is trying to determine their sanity when interviewing each one about the case. None of the women will say why they committed the crime, and the psychiatrist realizes that they were just fed up with the patriarchy and something in them just snapped.
Christine (Edda Barends) is a housewife who doesn’t speak, and her husband works outside the home and refers to their kids as “your kids,” putting all the responsibility on her. Andrea (Henriëtte Tol) is a secretary in an office run by men, and casually does some sex work on the side, seeing it as a big joke to her. And Annie (Nelly Frijda) is an outspoken waitress at a diner, a widow glad to be rid of taking care of her husband and not wanting another one.
I liked how this movie had this punk 80s feminism feel to it, like not being nihilistic but just about three women being fed up with the patriarchy and simultaneously attacking the same prey, cornering him and just beating him to death in his store. And that this breaks through to the psychiatrist, not seeing any of them as insane, and defending them in court.
Marleen Gorris is retired now, but directed several films, her best-known ones being this one, Antonia’s Line (which won the Oscar in 1995 for Best Foreign Language Film), and Mrs. Dalloway in 1997. She also came out as a lesbian around the time of Antonia’s Line, which I’m happy she was able to come out as queer decades ago.
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