His and Hers

Dir. Ken Wardrop

With Mother's Day almost around the corner (don't panic, you've got a few weeks left) and International Women's Day upon us, what better way to treat that special lady in your life than to take her to a film that celebrates all that she is? I give you His and Hers, a charming documentary that features anecdotes from 70 different Irish women of all different ages and stages in life, and focuses on their relationships with the opposite sex. It does so with grace, tenderness, poise, and sense of humor, attempting to portray just what it means to be a woman today.

The film begins with a lovely sequence that moves from an infant girl to a baby learning to crawl, to a tot taking a few tentative steps, to a toddler racing through the house, finally settling in on a chatty youngster to begin its stories. It continues this way with each girl a bit further along in life than the one before her, in order to span the entire lifetime of the 'typical' modern woman. Each woman is different, but they are made equal by the focusing of their stories on their relationships with the men in their lives. The child talks about pleasing her dad. The young teen giggles while texting a boy who seeks her affections. A twenty-something discusses waiting for her boyfriend to propose. Eventually it features newlyweds, new mothers, older mothers, and on and on through to several women who have out lived their spouses and find themselves possibly for the first time in their lives, without a man.

It is a simple premise carried out almost to perfection by director Ken Wardrop. Each woman is beautifully framed somewhere in her home, often in the midst of performing an everyday task like picking up after her teenage son or changing the sheets. Each shot is carefully composed, often through a doorway or in front of a window with a long depth of focus giving it many layers, perhaps to symbolize the many layers of the women on screen. These women are approached with an obvious affection and it makes sense that Wardrop made the film in honor of his own mother. Because of this, his subjects are at ease in front of the camera, creating very genuine and poignant moments. Structurally the film doesn't follow a traditional story arc at all, but the women featured are entertaining enough in their own right to hold interest, and the superb editing ensures that the film never drags on.

Unfortunately, the film by its nature did portray women as rather dependent on the men in their lives. It seems implied that all of these women's lives follow the same kind of trajectory: childhood, motherhood, old age, death. Careers were rarely if ever mentioned and there are no women featured who grew up to do anything other than raise a family. I'm no raging feminist but, by only showing them in the home it feels as if that is their place and their purpose, although I don't suppose this was the filmmaker's intention. For many woman, this is the path their lives take and they are quite happy to fulfill it. For them, the film holds true. It just seems a bit a variety would have been better representative of the majority of women in this day and age.

Nonetheless the film was rather heartwarming and being of the represented gender I did find it relatable. However, whichever gender you identify with, you're bound to know someone with whom this film will resonate (unless the only women you know are die hard feminists). So, share 'His and Hers' with your wife, mum, daughter, girlfriend, grandmother, sister, aunt, in-law, best friend...This film is best enjoyed together.