[yasr_overall_rating]
In Ger(wo)many, when an army of radical females is preparing for a final revolution and a utopian world without men, a young male soldier arrives seeking refuge at the convent.
I went to peek at the Movie Review Query Engine just to see how many reviews of “The Misandrists” had been posted. For extensively reviewed movies, the number can exceed two-hundred. In the case of “The Misandrists,” there was exactly one, though after seeing the film, I’m not surprised.
The term Misandrist is defined as “a person who dislikes, despises, or is strongly prejudiced against men.” And so, when an injured soldier on the run from police finds refuge in a school for wayward girls in an old house tucked away in a largely deserted countryside, we understand there may be trouble ahead for him. Inside the convent of sorts, Big Mother runs the joint where, sooner or later, everyone toes the company line.
Throughout, the film almost begs for comparison to previous work. References to “The Beguiled” are clear, but also to “The Crying Game.” Perhaps unintentionally, there is also an homage to The Three Stooges Woman Haters Club, which just might be the best thing about the picture.
The group of nun-like sisters and troubled girls methodically seek to transform themselves into a revolutionary Female Liberation Army in order to overthrow the existing male-dominated society. Their method of infiltration is propagandizing lesbian porn films, a weary and unimaginative approach consistent with other efforts by writer-director Bruce LaBruce.
“The Misandrists” is a movie that seems to be trying to hit several themes – satire, soft porn, social commentary, probably others – yet combines too much silliness with too many graphic images to accomplish any of them successfully. In one case, actual footage of a sex change operation from male to female is on full display, worthy of a medical training film.
Simplistic references are made to the location of the action in Ger(wo)many, where the all-female students learn HERstory. Then there is the recitation of “Blessed be the Goddess of all worlds that has not made me a man,” which harkens back to ancient texts written by men thanking God for not making them a woman. In her obtuse, naïve way, Big Mother wants to create a mirror image of the existing world, this time with women in charge.
No doubt, the patriarchy of most human societies should be challenged, and happily, this is increasingly the case. The #MeToo movement is but the most recent example. However, “The Misandrists” only manages a feeble attempt at any sort of credible statement. Here again – as in too much of film and literature – the story feels more like a man’s attempt to project male sensibilities upon female characters in a wooden, two-dimensional fashion.
This is a film I can’t really recommend other than to cite the criticism I have often leveled at reviewers who write a less than favorable review. “Hey, if you saw it,” I think to myself, “Why shouldn’t I?” To which I would duly respond, “Why not, indeed?”
Opens May 25th in NY at the Village East Cinema from Cartilage Films and then expands to LA on June 1st at the Nuart Theatre
