Wednesday, March 6, 2019

Antonia's Line (1995)


Academy Awards, USA 1996

Winner
Oscar
Best Foreign Language Film
The Netherlands. 

First Look International
Directed by Marleen Gorris
My rating: 3 stars out of 4
(Blu-ray, Film Movement)

Chronicle of four generations of women in The Netherlands. Antonia and her daughter return to the small village of her youth shortly after the end of WWII. Her mother is dying, or at least trying to, waking up in her casket during her funeral in one scene. Antonia and her daughter take up farming and gradually get to know her quirky neighbors. Her daughter eventually grows up and wants a child but not a husband. They go to the big city and she is hooked up with a young motorcycle rebel who gladly obliges. Her daughter grows up to have an unnatural fascination with  mathematics. She hires a tutor who becomes her lesbian lover. Her daughter grows up and also has a daughter out of wedlock. This one has a fascination with death, with many of the villagers providing ample opportunities for her to ruminate on it. Strange mix of fantasy, quirky characters and overt feminist themes is occasionally interesting, but you have to be in the right mood.

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