Mustang
Deniz Gamze Ergüven (2016)
I was going to start a whole diatribe about backwards oppressive patriarchal societies but that would be talking about the movie's subject instead of the movie itself. Instead, I would rather point out the specificity of Mustang in how it shows women, the victims of the abuse, participating in the perpetuation of the culture. They are watchdogs for transgressions, participants in the myriad forms of abuse and, most important of all, teachers, those responsible for ensure that the next generation of women will be as subjugated and accepting of the system.
Mustang is not so unsubtle as to paint too dark a picture of them however. The same grandmother who beats her charges at the beginning of the movie protects them from their uncle when they get seriously into trouble. Unlike the children, she is able to recognise the most egregious aspects of his tyranny but will not act to change matters. Marriage becomes both a cultural imperative and the only way to escape the bullying figure.
The girls variate between acceptance of their fate and various forms of rebellion. It comes down to how much each of them is going to suffer or benefit from it. One gets to marry her boyfriend and is content with that - her defiance is relegated to limiting herself to anal sex. Other will refuse to be disposed of in drastic displays of disobedience.
The movie is a fierce indictment of a culture that jars with the twenty first century world these girls somehow belong too. It celebrates agency and resourcefulness but is clever enough to know that lone individuals cannot win alone against an entire system and against the world. They can run and hide but it is only when there is a sympathetic, more enlightened, trucker who is ready to help that true escape can be achieved.
7/10