20th Century Women (2016)

Directed by: Mike Mills | 113 minutes | comedy, drama | Actors: Annette Bening, Elle Fanning, Greta Gerwig, Billy Crudup, Lucas Jade Zumann, Alison Elliott, Thea Gill, Vitaly Andrew LeBeau, Waleed Zuaiter, Curran Walters, Darrel Britt-Gibson, Alia Shawkat, Nathalie Love, Cameron Gellman, Finnegan Seeker Bell, Zoe Nanos, Lauren Foley, Finn Roberts, Laura Wiggins

Do you need a man to become a man? 15-year-old Jamie (Lucas Jade Zumann) grows up without a father. He knows no better than what it’s like to be raised by his
55-year-old single mother Dorothea (Annette Bening). They live together in Santa Barbara and share their spacious home with two tenants, the artsy Abbie (Greta Gerwig) and handyman William (Billy Crudup). Also the quirky neighborhood girl Julie (Elle Fanning), whose hormones occasionally run wild, comes around day and night.

Mother and son do not always seem to understand each other well, which causes the necessary resistance in the dear son and confusion in the mother. An adolescent, brash move by Jamie prompts Dorothea to enlist Abbie and Julie’s help, hoping the two girls can get through to Jamie and help him on the right path to adulthood. Jamie thinks this is nonsense and uses “she’s from the (Great) Depression” several times as an excuse to excuse his mother’s ‘old-fashioned’ behavior. Still, sharing everyone’s life experiences and visions seems to help gradually close the generation gap between them.

’20th Century Women’ breathes DNA. Graphic designer and director Mike Mills used his own mother as a source of inspiration, on which the character of Dorothea Fields in the film is largely based. It is not the first time Mills has used his family as a cinematic tool for his directing. ‘Beginners’ (2010) focused on the life story of his father, who came out at a fairly late age. Thanks in part to his distinctive and recognizable film style – quickly alternating photos and images from the old days in combination with the use of voice-overs – personal memories come back to life and Mills knows how to introduce both the past and future of the main characters in a unique way. . Careful attention has also been paid to the period in which the story takes place, in the late 1970s. The clothing, jewelry, furniture and punk music (Talking Heads, Black Flag, The Raincoats, The Germs) all contribute to the credibility with the desired effect that it will evoke a nostalgic feeling in many.

The female characters all have a powerful character. The diverse personalities ensure that everyone has their own interpretation of what they think is the best way to help Jamie. Abbie provides Jamie with feminist literature and Julie tells him unfiltered how she feels about men. By trying to unravel the interests of the younger generation, Dorothea is meanwhile looking for the right balance between her parenting ideals and letting go of them. A good mix between apt quotes and intimate or often comical situations means that Jamie understands being a woman better and better.

The whole has been interpreted realistically by the entire company of actors, but Annette Bening, known from ‘American Beauty’ (1999) among other things, takes the cake with her role as Dorothea. She is particularly talented in showing micro-expressions, her squinting eyes and mouth expressions are telling. Whether it concerns a certain look, action or emotion, Bening knows how to convey everything confidently, but above all pure.

’20th Century Women’ does not contain much tension but has been given a taboo-breaking and authentic seventies look. It is an ode to the (educating) woman. Mills hits the feminist nail on the head and shows that men generally don’t have to lose their masculinity, but a little more feminine insight wouldn’t hurt.