Antonia’s Line

This movie was very different from any of the films that we have seen in class. This wasn’t one of my favorite movies, but I thought it was an interesting view of romance and marriage because it was from a different perspective. The perspective of love was different because it was taken from a foreign country, different culture and it took place many years ago. This viewpoint was not at all like the other films that we have viewed in class. Love, family and happiness were present without the presence of many men. It was a movie that definitely addressed the strength and abilities of a woman to stand on her own. There were many aspects to this movie that I found fascinating. I thought that the movie was about the constant cycle of life and death. This was signified through the timeline of the movie. It viewed many generations of a single family. Life was shown through the abundance of children displayed throughout the movie. The idea of children and fertility was a significant theme to the first half of the movie. The film first introduces Danielle as the child of Antonia who is a creative and artistic little girl. Danielle soon grows up and wants a child of her own. Then her child Therese had a baby of her own with her partner. There was a reoccurring theme of the presence of children and how each interacted within the village. However, Danielle had an unusual situation because she did not want a husband to go along with the baby. This also seemed to be a common theme throughout the movie. At the beginning of the movie we also see that Antonia declines a man to be her husband. These examples allowed the movie to show the strength, both emotionally and physically, that the women had. They overcame many obstacles throughout the film. It seemed that men were not a necessary aspect for some of the women. Danielle used a man for his reproduction ability. This movie was seen more as a Utopia for women. It featured all females from the same family. It showed different generations of family and how things changed over time. The filmed showed an importance of carrying on a family by becoming pregnant. However, as the movie progressed, children we featured less and less. The second half of the film explored the idea of death. As time progressed so did the people of the village. It seemed that over time there were fewer births and more deaths. As the village people grew older, there was a loss of happiness and self-worth shown through some individuals. Finger, was one character who displayed these emotions. It seemed that he couldn’t find a meaning in the world he lived in. He believed that if he ended his life that it would help the lives of the other people. Finger was tormented by his feelings, which led him to commit suicide. In this film, the idea of marriage seemed irrelevant because it didn’t seem necessary. There really was no affect of the institution of marriage on the individuals seen within this village. This film portrayed a different type of romance seen within relationships. Compared to other movies, the relationship aspect was very different from the others we have seen in previous movies. Some of the relationships shown in this film were based off pleasure and companionship, rather than love and security that are a part of the institution of marriage.