Antonia's Line

Marleen Gorris's 1995 Oscar winner for Best Foreign Film serves up a multi-generational tale about a matriarchal extended family formed as an alternative to the aggressive, competitive patriarchy that pushed Europe into two world wars. Antonia's Line stars Willeke van Ammelrooy as Antonia, who returns to her little rural village in the Netherlands after World War II to bury her mother and then decides that she will live on her own terms with her daughter. When a local widower (Jan Decleir) asks her to marry, Antonia replies, "You can't have my hand but you can have the rest"—and the pair become friends and lovers, which he accepts and learns to embrace. Antonia's daughter (Els Dottermans) feels she doesn't need a husband to have a child and she auditions for a suitable father. The narrative covers 50 years in the life of Antonia and the community that forms around her like a family—a simple life of farming, church, and communal meals shared with all. Feminist director Gorris, whose previous features explored sexual politics and relations with a critical eye, here trades rhetoric for whimsy, warmth, and fantasy (at the funeral, Antonia's mother sits up to enjoy the celebration, a moment that recalls Latin American magical realism). Antonia's Line is not all light and joy, but the bad is taken along with the good in this generous, loving film. Extras include an archival interview with Gorris, and a booklet with an essay by film critic Thelma Adams. Highly recommended. (S. Axmaker)