Women in Film

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Extending my thoughts about women in film from yesterday . . . There are a couple of scenes in recent movies I've really liked. I'm thinking of two in particular. The first is with Brenda Blethyn in Secrets and Lies. It's a scene toward the beginning of the movie in which she's looking at herself in the mirror before she goes to bed at night. She's wiped the makeup off her face and looks at herself with a sense of despair, feeling haggard and hopeless. The second scene is from Quantum of Solace, in which M is at home but talking on speaker with colleagues about a crisis. She's in her robe, again without makeup. And as she's talking, she putting on night cream, but in this case she's matter-of-fact and brisk.

I don't know why I love those two scenes so much, but they feel very intimate and real to me. I suspect women spend a lot of time in front of mirrors at night, looking themselves over, thinking about how well or poorly they're aging. it's like a moment of thoughtfulness and (literally) self-reflection that is sometimes scary, sometimes invigorating. I love that they included such a scene in the Bond movie, especially . . . it's like an acknowledgment that M is who she is, and not just a woman playing a man's part.
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