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EDITOR'S PICK
`Bel Ami` - Tale of a misogynistic
society
Rating: ****
It is hard to imagine a time in the western world where the only difference
between a slave and a woman was that women were permitted a little more dignity
by allowing them to dress up (to serve men) and mingle with them at least in
parties.
Perhaps it is not so difficult to imagine women as second class citizens,
because the discrimination against women even in the western world - albeit in a
different form - continues to date.
And though the prism of feminism is not the obvious way to look at this tale of
a man from a lowly background rising up the ladder of a corrupt society with his
own corruption, the feminist angle is indeed how the makers want you to look at
the film.
Georges (Robert Pattinson), a down on his luck and barely literate but dashing
soldier in the 1890s, uses his affairs with society women to rise up in the
Parisian society. When on top, however, his male chauvinism kicks in and he
tries to control the women in his life, to no avail initially but to disastrous
consequences finally.
At the face of it "Bel Ami" is the story of the corruption of Parisian
society. But when you try looking deeper at the causes for the corruption, one
that comes up will surprise you. For the film asks you, can a society that does
not give women their due, ever be free from rot and corruption.
This rot is embodied in the character of Madeleine played by Uma Thurman.
Despite being a brilliant writer and strategist and being better at the affairs
of men then most men themselves, she needs the support of men for even just a
bit of her talents to be visible.
Thus the nincompoop Georges becomes a perfect vessel to carry her brilliance,
something which the entire society knows, but does not acknowledge in the open.
Problems emerge when this man, who alternately uses and is used by women,
develops jealousy and a desire to be acknowledged for talents he does not
possess. In the process he resorts to every dirty tactics in an already dirty
society.
Madeleine thus becomes a metaphor for all the brilliant women throughout history
including those now, women who have been pushed and kicked to the ground, their
faces forced stuck to the dirty mud by the powerful boots of a patriarchal and
misogynist society.
Brilliantly adapted from a novel by Guy de Maupassant, the film does a decent
job of condensing 400 odd pages into 100 odd minutes. In doing so, gaps become
evident and might seem discordant to many. But if you have a healthy
imagination, it will actually accentuate the pleasure.
Lending evidence to the director and writer giving it a feminist tinge are many
things. E.g. if George`s poverty were shown a bit more closely, we`d have found
much more empathy for him. But the makers don`t want that. Instead they want you
to feel for the women trapped in a man`s world and in their stupid games.
The film packs many moments and scenes rife with poignancy and brilliant
dialogues. In one, Madeleine tells Georges in a fit of rage, "You stupid
stupid man. You complete and perfect man."
Stupidity indeed, seems to be the only perfection men are capable of.