In the thirties , Lilian Hellmann wrote a play about two schoolteachers ,one of whom fell in love with her colleague ;it was transferred twice to the screen by William Wyler as "these three " (but he was forced to avoid the lesbian side) and as "the children' hour" (in which Audrey Hepburn and Shirley McLaine were unforgettable)
I had not seen a more moving movie dealing with what was then a taboo subject since "the children's hour " ; in those years ,the gay ,be he a man or a woman ,had always a bad end ( " suddenly last summer" "the fox" "advise and consent "......)
It was then and it is now : things have changed and fortunately,people have become more tolerant with homosexuals .
But "between two women" takes place in the fifties ,just before WW2, which is often hinted at ; the depiction of the social background is precise and detailed :the macho husband working in the factory , the children playing with their toy train, the wireless set , Ellen marvelling at Kathy's bathroom, a stiffling society .And it's not so sure that both women will live happily ever after : their life will be uncertain, and ,like the train ,they may enter a dark tunnel where they might meet unfriendly people .
Barbara Marten and Andrina Carroll give superlative restrained performances : looks and smiles tell their whole story , those who watch Steven Woodcock's to get an eyeful will be disappointed : it's a psychological drama of the first order ; the rapport both actresses have is extraordinary ,although they are apparently worlds apart : Kathy is an educated woman whereas Ellen is a worker's wife whose husband got pregnant before her wedding : an intelligent woman, she certainly could have carried on with her studies ,had she been given the opportunity to. Her boy's drawings (which,although impressive, depicts a gloomy reality : walls ,factory,shadows, darkness ) may be the key to the world of culture she longs for .On his part ,her husband rejects this art ,and gets jealous of his own son who makes as much money with his picture as he makes in one month .
It' s obvious Ellen and Geoff have never been in love ,and the wife did not want to show her true colors ; the coming of luminous Kathy will make the difference ;the relationship is depicted with sensitiveness, warmth and decency .
I had not seen a more moving movie dealing with what was then a taboo subject since "the children's hour " ; in those years ,the gay ,be he a man or a woman ,had always a bad end ( " suddenly last summer" "the fox" "advise and consent "......)
It was then and it is now : things have changed and fortunately,people have become more tolerant with homosexuals .
But "between two women" takes place in the fifties ,just before WW2, which is often hinted at ; the depiction of the social background is precise and detailed :the macho husband working in the factory , the children playing with their toy train, the wireless set , Ellen marvelling at Kathy's bathroom, a stiffling society .And it's not so sure that both women will live happily ever after : their life will be uncertain, and ,like the train ,they may enter a dark tunnel where they might meet unfriendly people .
Barbara Marten and Andrina Carroll give superlative restrained performances : looks and smiles tell their whole story , those who watch Steven Woodcock's to get an eyeful will be disappointed : it's a psychological drama of the first order ; the rapport both actresses have is extraordinary ,although they are apparently worlds apart : Kathy is an educated woman whereas Ellen is a worker's wife whose husband got pregnant before her wedding : an intelligent woman, she certainly could have carried on with her studies ,had she been given the opportunity to. Her boy's drawings (which,although impressive, depicts a gloomy reality : walls ,factory,shadows, darkness ) may be the key to the world of culture she longs for .On his part ,her husband rejects this art ,and gets jealous of his own son who makes as much money with his picture as he makes in one month .
It' s obvious Ellen and Geoff have never been in love ,and the wife did not want to show her true colors ; the coming of luminous Kathy will make the difference ;the relationship is depicted with sensitiveness, warmth and decency .