Ruth Bader Ginsburg is a national treasure, one of the most important figures in contemporary women's rights. In true Oscar Bait Biopic (tm) fashion, On the Basis of Sex examines how Ginsburg and her husband helped make the landmark case declaring gender-based discrimination unconstitutional.
The film is relatively lighthearted, and it hits all the familiar beats we're used to with these types of biopics, though we really don't get to see a complete picture of the woman behind it all. Despite a great performance from Felicity Jones, Ruth Ginsburg the character feels hard to connect to as a flesh and blood character. The documentary RBG is probably a better choice instead.
While we get perspectives about how western women face discrimination and sexism all the tim, we rarely get glimpses from other places. Bhutan's The Red Phallus is such a film, portraying the struggles of one girl, Sangay as she navigates her suffocatingly patriarchal society.
The symbolism is more than overt; the village Sangay lives in is literally packed with phalluses, as their culture engages in a sort of phallus-worship. She is subjected to the whim of her oblivious father, who makes these wooden penises for a living and her lover, a butcher who happens to be married. Even though her lover is of the lowest social class in their village, even he can order Sangay around.
This slow burn smoulders over time, reaching a breaking point of sudden, unexpected violence culinating in a frame that encapsulates the meaning behind the film's title: a phallus destroyed, covered in blood.
Gaston Duprat's Mi Obra Maestra (My Mastepiece) begins with a shocking confession from Art Agent Arturo Silva: he is, secretly a murderer. What ensues is a tragic yet often hilarious satire of the art scene, buddy movie and critique all in one.
We flash back to five years before the events of the first sequence, when Arturo is stil involved with his artist friend, Renzo Nervi. Renzo is the epitome of the narcissistic, self absorbed artistic genius: arrogant, selfish, ideologically dogmatic and obsessed with his art. Renzo is a dear friend to Arturo yeet is also the source of many of his problems.
the film examines the relationship between art and commerce, with art becoming a twisted parody of its noble self, commodified instead of made for its own sake. In one scene Renzo asks for a free meal because of is "contributions to the art world." This is absurd to the restaurant manager, and i suspect even to some of us in the audience: we hav become victims of this perverted system as well.
And like in any movie where the system is broken, Renzo and Arturo decides to throw caution to the wind and game the system if they can't beat it, leading to a fun rollercoaster ride of deception, sadness, and hilarity.
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