Female-Directed Futurism

Strange Days

Tank Girl

Following up the unequivocal weirdness from last week, I thought I’d double down on the bizarre and broaden my range with some female-directed films that explore the dark and surreal possibilities of the future. I suppose the full title for tonight’s genre is “90s Female-Directed Horny Fatal Futurism, or The Future is Female-Directed and Also Bleak as Hell. This is not my first descent into the genre of dystopian futures, and it will likely not be my last, because I love the possibilities that come with the “end”. Both of tonight’s films came out smack in the middle of the 90s, a time where bold moves were being made within cinema, and more women were finally being included. The bold, desperately edgy tones of the pulp-filled dramas and psycho-sexual thrillers of the 1990s seemed hard to compete with, but by 1995, when her film Strange Days was released, Kathryn Bigelow was already a revered director. Near Dark and Point Break, my two favorites of hers, carved out a space for Bigelow in the world of action movies, finding new and exciting ways to stand out from the action flicks that came before. While her later career has looked somewhat like an ad for the US army, nosediving further into tales of masculinity, Kathryn Bigelow, and the caliber and scale of the films she’s made (especially in her early career), are unique. She was able to fulfill the large-budget, mainstream expectations of studios while mixing in some somewhat transgressive, unexpected elements that separated her as an auteur. This type of acclaim and level of regard was rare for a woman at that time, and the “gender issue” in Hollywood is still very much present to quote Bigelow herself:

“I have always firmly believed that every director should be judged solely by their work, and not by their work based on their gender. Hollywood is supposedly a community of forward thinking and progressive people yet this horrific situation for women directors persists. Gender discrimination stigmatizes our entire industry. Change is essential. Gender neutral hiring is essential.”

Thankfully, we’ve come a long way. There’s still a lot more space for women behind the camera, particularly for women of color, but in my viewing experience, female directors are always reliably subversive and fearless in the stories they tell on screen. Strange Days was no exception, as this grim, futuristic, cyber-punk thriller kept me interested from beginning to end. There were parts of this film that dragged, I won’t lie, and that 2 and a half hour long run time is definitely felt, but it was still intriguing. Ralph Fiennes stars as Lenny, a dealer of memories by way of a cutting-edge, black market piece of VR technology that allows people to access other people’s lived experiences. The trouble, is that his girlfriend Juliette Lewis dumped him, he’s struggling to get his life together, and the business he does is dangerous, to a degree that puts him, Juliette Lewis, and Angela Bassett (the real love interest) in trouble with some really bad people. Released in 1995 but set in the not-so-distant 1999, Strange Days presented us with a chaotic, war-torn Los Angeles, where violence is rampant and good times are currency. The 1999 imagined and written by James Cameron and Jay Cocks had a lot in common with our present-day reality: high gas prices, the constant threat of war, racist cops, far too immersive technology—it all felt very familiar. Strange Days’ attempt to confront racial injustice and governmental corruption wasn’t the strongest or most memorable, but in the wake of the Rodney King case, this attempt was still rather gutsy. To me, the most compelling parts of this film didn’t consist of the addictive and deadly technology or Ralph Fiennes’ stressful life, but was Angela Bassett, and her ability to steer this heavy film into some more hopeful territory. I wish, given the fact that a woman directed this, that it felt more empowering to me, as a woman. I feel slightly more comfortable knowing that there was a woman at the helm, but there was just a bit too much abusing of and objectifying of women for my taste. Kathryn Bigelow loves her bros, as Point Break demonstrates in its many layers of bro-hood, so I was glad to see more female representation here—I just wish we had gotten even more. Juliette Lewis was at her most gorgeous and got to sing some pretty electric grunge, but she was essentially just naked and moaning the entire time—providing the most sex appeal that one could possibly physically squeeze out of someone. We got to know Angela Bassett’s character somewhat better, as she represented one of the only voices of reason in this hyper-sexualized, ultra-violent sci-fi extravaganza. There were lots of cool sets and aesthetics on display in Strange Days and plenty of clever (albeit disorienting) camera angles, but the best thing that I saw? Was a scene in which Angela Bassett beats the fuck out of some cops. Ralph Fiennes is pretty sexy in this movie, but there was nothing hotter than that moment for me. Angela Bassett proved at several points in this film, like when she called Ralph Fiennes a “pussy-whipped, sorry ass mother fucker”, that she is not only a great actress, she’s a bad bitch as well. Speaking of bad bitches, Rachel Talalay’s 1996 film Tank Girl introduced us to another character of feminist descent, with an equally chaotic story to tell. Tank Girl was a largely successful comic back in the late 80s and early 90s, but its film was a critical and commercial failure. Lori Petty stars as the titular Tank Girl, otherwise known as Rebecca, who is just trying to survive in a post-apocalyptic world without movies, tv, or water. After she is caught siphoning water, Rebecca is taken prisoner by Michael McDowell, antagonist king, who runs the evil corporation of Water and Power (otherwise referred to as WAP in the film, I kid you not.) Rebecca, who is sneaky and scrappy and good at killing bad guys, is of interest to the big bad guy, and offers her a job. But Rebecca’s twisted and quippy sense of humor places a target on her head. Soon after she’s taken prisoner, she meets Jet Girl (played by Naomi Watts) who helps her escape, only for them to discover a group of kangaroo men that I hesitate to reveal anymore details about, because this movie is just too wacky to spoil. I’m not sure what I expected, but Tank Girl was hornier than I thought it’d be, cuter than I thought it’d be, and all around exceeded my expectations of the wild and weird. It’s essentially a quirky, less-developed Mad Max: Fury Road, with a similar, but not as successful, attempt at feminism. I loved the use of animation in this film though, and how the original comics and drawings were incorporated. I also loved the random musical number and the general set design and costuming—even though there were a lot of questionable decisions made in this movie, the world felt the most real when it blended relics of the past with technology of the future. With the needle drops of Björk and Veruca Salt you can live your 90s ethereal music fantasy, and you’ll be pleasantly surprised (horrified?) by the creatures and concepts this movie tries to casually throw in. It was a little all over the place, and the pacing felt like it was changing as frequently as Lori Perry’s hair and costuming (which changed a total of 18 times) but it was all done in (mostly) good fun. Just don’t question the fact that Ice T plays one of the kangaroo men, nor should you question the random dance number that they all participate in. Lori Petty is easy to love and seems like the perfect choice for this character: no matter how puzzling the rest of the movie felt, her sincere performance kept me tuned in. In my researching of this insane film, I found that its palpable disjointedness can be blamed on constant beefing between director Rachel Talalay, the studio producing the film, and Alan Martin and Jamie Hewlett—the creators of the Tank Girl comic. As strange as this film is, it was supposed to be a lot stranger, but the studio cut out multiple parts of the film that would’ve seemingly provided more context to this odd story, and they ultimately completely changed the ending as well. There were several disputes over the songs that were used, the portrayal of certain characters, but one of the biggest points of contention in the making of Tank Girl was the deletion of a sex scene between Rebecca and her kangaroo man-boyfriend—where a “ten-inch, $5,000 prosthetic cock"—was featured, only to be scrapped. Similarly to Strange Days, the filming of Tank Girl sounded arduous and tortuous and disconnected, but Lori Petty really made me appreciate this crazy movie. Thanks for indulging in more insanity with me, dear readers, maybe we’ll get back to reality next week. Maybe.