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The film festival at the American Centre Auditorium
'Character Women: Comic Heroines in the American Film' - saw women taking the central role in a story, but within the parameters set for them by society, risking ostracism for defiance. The second week, however, had women not only in contemporary roles, but also with defiant ideals, heralding in a sense, the arrival of woman on the cinema scene, not as a commodity but as someone in her own right.
Director Howard Zeiff's 'Private Benjamin' had Goldie Hawn playing the title character, a spoilt young woman widowed on her wedding night and who joins the army out of ignorance. This proto-feminist movie anticipated a social debate in the U.S. about the role of women in the armed forces. Julia Robert's role in 'Pretty Woman' came in for some criticism, but all was forgotten in her break through performance as the tough- talking, kind-hearted woman who pulls off an improbable disguise in her own inimitable fashion.
'Sister Act' had Whoopi Goldberg in a memorable performance as a lounge singer, Deloris. Disguised as a nun, she soon transforms a choir into a spectacular gospel-singing group and motivates them to show compassion for their convent
neighbours.
'Pocahontas', directed by Mike Gabriel, tells the story of a young American-Indian girl coming of age during the second era of European exploration of the American continent. She breaks the mould established by generations of helpless heroines in animated film.
The U.S. Consulate Office of Public Affairs and Federation of Film Societies, Southern Region, did well to organise this event, but something should have been done about the dwindling audience.
Maheen Abdul
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