Original Post Date: 09.04.17
This is crazy. I have been trying to put together this post for months. I started in July, continued in August, and well, look at me here today, in September.
I’ve tried to understand why it has been so difficult for me to structure my writing and the best thing I could come up with was that it overwhelmed me. There is so much I want to say about this movie, about the story, about the characters, about the cinematography, about the music, about the unspoken, about The Woman (2011).
I want to say everything in a well put manner. I know I will miss things. I also know that in a few days from now I might want to add to it, but I won’t, at least not here.
Listen, if you are acquainted with my style of writing you might know by now that I don’t review horror movies, per se, but share my opinions and emotions about them –what they made me think and feel is what matters to me and that is what I am going to do right now. (By the way, I always provide a link to their IMDB page so you can go read the synopsis and watch the trailer, because like I said, I don’t review movies and want to assume you already know the basic information about them.)
*SPOILERS AHEAD*
I heard about The Woman months ago on Instagram (where else?) and it immediately caught my eye. The woman on the pictures depicted both anger and dismay and it fascinated me. These were some of the images that pulled me in:
Doesn’t she look like the prey and the threat?
I am not going to lie, the very first time I watched The Woman there were some aspects that annoyed me so much that I even rolled my eyes a couple of times. Why? Because of their choice of music. The film was heavily packed with happy tunes, pop songs if you will. The music was distracting and took me out of the moment and made me think how it was not compatible with what I was watching. I didn’t like that. Until I watched it for the second time, third, and fourth. Yes. I have watched the movie four times since that day in July.
Also, the other thing I didn’t like was the weak acting by some actors. There were even times when I felt like I was watching a B-Movie… until the woman was in front of the camera. Oh man, the whole vibe changed as soon as you saw her –perfect lighting, and no stupid happy songs but ambience noise. Perfect moments with her made worth enduring one more distracting song.
Do you remember I mentioned I started drafting this post weeks ago? Well, this was from July’s entry:
The Woman, the feral woman, savage, mute, the hunter turned prey, the strong made captive, victim, kidnapped, raped; her ugliness was breathtaking, her ability to see good from evil made her honest and true to her goal of survival, her contorted face and body explored the depths of human endurance
Belle Cleek, the fragile afraid mother, silenced, obedient, victim of domestic abuse
Peggy Cleek, the teenage daughter struggling with the injustices of life, sadness, loneliness, unplanned hidden pregnancy (was she raped by her dad?)
Brian Cleek, the teenage damaged son, too far gone, too dangerous
Chris Cleek, the father, the abuser, misogynistic monster, evil
Darlin’ Cleek, the baby girl of the house, intact, loved
Let’s talk about the two women of the family I identified with. Belle and Peggy. Mother and daughter. One is willing to endure the same old abuse without raising her voice due to fear, and the other while caught in the middle of it, speaks up and acts kindly, whatever ‘kindly’ is in her situation. Both women, both complex, both hurt, both mothers (in the case of Peggy, soon to be), both with maternal instincts, both living the same hell.
Now, in regards to the other members of the family, what can I say? The father was the main villain of the story, a total monster, yet he acted based on the goodness he thought he was doing by ‘civilizing’ the wild woman who used to roam the forest like an animal. In his mind, the father was doing good. The son? I don’t think he thought he was doing good, on the contrary, I think he enjoyed inflicting pain just because. It’s important to mention that when the men were not working together towards the ‘project’, they interacted coldly and at an arms-length on their everyday life situations. It was no surprise that at the very end they both suffered the same faith.
The little girl was the control group. She was the normal one. I have no opinions about her.
Wow, you have made it this far? I applaud your endurance. Here, I have saved the best for last –my favorite scene! (Click here to view it with my reaction.) I love that scene so fucking much! Each time I watch it it gives me goosebumps and reminds me the reason why I love horror movies is due to their honest and human side.
This is my unedited first draft (from August) about what my favorite scene meant to me:
The Woman is held captive in the cellar, tied up, getting a sponge bath from Chris Cleek. She is staring into Belle’s eyes as if begging for help, as if extending an emotional hand, woman to woman, victim to victim, asking to be saved while the opportunity arises as the villain gets distracted, cleaning and touching her half naked breasts. Belle’s eyes follow The Woman’s eyes and we, for a moment, just for a few seconds, are one-hundred percent sure Belle is going to do the right thing and hit her husband on the back of his head with a big piece of wood, ‘Belle is our hero!’– we think relieved, until we are proven wrong. In those brief moments when Belle is still looking back at The Woman’s eyes (all while an incredible and very mood appropriate song plays in the background), her eyes get distracted and move down to the chest and witness her husband’s hand touching and caressing The Woman, preferring The Woman, the novelty, over her, the loyal stale wife. Betty is no longer on our side. Betty gives the big piece of wood to Chris Cleek to help him with the faulty structure of the cellar. To make matters worse, we see how this betrayal affects The Woman as her face turns from fearful—and tearful—to blank. This was the only time when The Woman showed true vulnerability and fear.
Both women at their own habitat vs. both women at the shared wrong one:
There was so much going on in the movie, cool stuff and characters I won’t mention only because I did not identify with them. You could say all you have read on this entry represents something (at some level) about me; the good, the bad, and the ugly. Because after all, I did not entitle this post “Me Myself and The Woman” for nothing.
“I never condoned what you did. Never. You just can’t keep putting one thing on top of the other and expect to keep getting away with it forever. I’ve had it.” -Belle Cleek
-Marath