Twice a Woman. 21 June 2014. 2:30 pm

( Twee vrouwen )

Dir. George Sluizer, 1979

Starring: Bibi Andersson, Sandra Dumas, Anthony Perkins

English

A middle-aged woman is window-shopping on a lazy sunny afternoon. Reflected in a shop front, she sees a stranger, a beautiful young girl, staring back at her. They don’t need to talk, they both know what they want. Within two minutes they are in the woman's apartment, and she is about to let go of more than her impeccably tailored clothes --- she is about to let go of her heart.

Even though this ‘lesbian thing’ is all new to our protagonist, it feels perfectly natural (it’s the Seventies, remember?), and the girl soon settles in for a life of conjugal bliss. Age, class, background, education… their differences seem irrelevant, erased by their instant and unbreakable bond. Only one thing is missing to make it all perfect… and there will be complications.

The staggeringly beautiful Bibi Andersson –-who co-starred in what some say is the best arthouse lesbian film ever made, Bergman’s Persona— is flawlessly brilliant in the lead role. Anthony Perkins (forever associated with his 1960 role in Hitchcock’s Psycho) is the suitably bitter and twisted ex-husband, smart and slightly sinister. Sandra Dumas –in what is unfortunately her only film to date-- has all the brazen confidence of youth, a confidence which can as easily bring about wondrous things, as it can lead into irreversible disaster.

Film Qlub

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