“The Pronunciation” has been nominated for two Oscars, including for “Best Picture”. Rooney Mara, Claire Foy and Frances McDormand are among the outstanding cast. “The Pronunciation” is a drama in times of #MeToo – and much more.
A couple of women sit in a barn and discuss. In order for this rather dry basic constellation to become an exciting film, a lot has to be right. As in “The Pronunciation”. The drama is nominated for an Oscar for Best Picture.
An outstanding ensemble around the actresses Rooney Mara (“Nightmare Alley”), Claire Foy (“The Crown”) and Frances McDormand (“Nomadland”) meets an intelligently told story. The film is also in the running for an Oscar for best adapted screenplay.
“The Debate” is an emotional film about the faith and (powerlessness) of women, only dealing with the conversations we witness. In the center is a group of women from a secluded religious community. They found that men from the community had been systematically drugging and raping them at night for years. For a long time, the women didn’t know what had happened when they woke up in the morning with injuries.
The film is based on true events
The film by director Sarah Polley is based on the novel of the same name by author Miriam Toews, who grew up in a Mennonite community, an evangelical free church. Mennonite communities have different ways of life. What the Mennonites have in common, for example, is that they are convinced pacifists. Toews’ novel and film are about a community where women wear pigtails and long dresses and cannot read or write.
The novel “The Pronunciation” is based on a true case that is not that long ago. In 2009, seven members of a Mennonite settlement in eastern Bolivia were accused of raping at least 60 girls and women from the community. However, the film does not state when and where the events take place. The beliefs of the women are also not answered.
In the film we follow the women who are discussing what their future should look like in the said barn while the men are not there. Should they forgive the men and stay? Should they stay and fight? Or leave the church?
The power of discourse
Different opinions collide in emotional discussions. Are only the men to blame? Or the women too, by forgiving earlier attacks and thereby indirectly enabling further ones? Or nobody, because everything is just a consequence of an oppressive system? Questions like these are reminiscent of the #MeToo debate. But “The Debate” is more than an examination of current topics.
Again and again the women return to the question that is central to them, which actions result from their faith, and think about what is “good”.
The dynamic that emerges during these conversations often changes. Sometimes the women are angry, arguing with each other, sometimes they strike up a song together to relieve their serious injuries. In short, shocking flashbacks, viewers are also shown individual physical injuries.
The only man who plays a major role in the film is the sensitive teacher August (Ben Whishaw), whom the women ask to keep minutes of their discussions. He witnesses the discussions – and at the end of a decision that will probably change women’s lives forever. (dpa)