Framed : women in law and film

347 Pages·2006·0.95 MB·English

by  Kamir, Orit

Framed

Orit Kamir
Framed
women in law and film
Duke University Press
Durham and London 2006
∫ 2006 Duke University Press
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of
America on acid-free paper $
Designed by Amy Ruth Buchanan
Typeset in Quadraat by Keystone
Typesetting, Inc.
Library of Congress Cataloging-
in-Publication Data appear on
the last printed page of this book.
To Nita and Rebecca—my jury of peers

Contents
Acknowledgments • ix
Preface • xi
Introduction: Conceptual Framework • 1
Part I feminist critique of law films that honor-judge women
1. Rashomon (Japan, 1950): Construction of Woman as Guilty Object • 43
2. Pandora’s Box (Germany, 1928): Exorcising Pandora-Lilith in the Weimar
Republic • 73
3. Blackmail (England, 1929): Hitchcock’s Sound and the New Woman’s Guilty
Silence • 90
4. Anatomy of a Murder (U.S.A., 1959): Hollywood’s Hero-Lawyer Revives the
Unwritten Law • 112
Part II cinematic women demanding judgment
From Liberal Attitudes to Radical Feminist Jurisprudence and the Ethics of Care
5. Adam’s Rib (U.S.A., 1949): Hollywood’s Female Lawyer and Family Values
(Read with Disclosure and Legally Blonde) • 135
6. Nuts (U.S.A., 1987): The Mad Woman’s Day in Court • 160
7. Death and the Maiden (U.S.A., 1994): Challenging Trauma with Feminine
Judgment and Justice (Read with The Piano) • 185
Part III women resisting and subverting judgment
Beyond Conventional Feminist Jurisprudence
8. A Question of Silence (Netherlands, 1982): Feminist Community as
Revolution (Read against ‘‘A Jury of Her Peers’’) • 217
9. Set it O√ (U.S.A., 1996): Minority Women at the Point of No Return • 243
10. High Heels (Spain, 1991): Almodovar’s Postmodern Transgression • 264
Notes • 285
Bibliography • 299
Index • 313
Acknowledgments
The materials contained in this book evolved over the course of five years,
which happened to be a particularly di≈cult, challenging, and finally reward-
ing period in my personal and professional life. The writing process played a
meaningful role in my analyzing and understanding the personal process,
and thus in surviving it. Although the turbulence of this period hindered and
slowed the creative process, it contributed to my sensitivity to and compas-
sion for (women’s) predicament and pain, and thus, I hope, to the depth of
my analysis. This book holds much energy and passion inspired by various
stages of a long process of injury, battle, and healing.
Many people supported me in the personal journey that coincided with the
writing of this book, and I am forever grateful to them. Special thanks to Dina
Wardi, John Hartman, Nita Schechet, Rachel Benziman, Batya Segal, Roni
Weinstein and Dorit Lerer, Uri Sadeh, Michal Steinman, Barbara Garavaglia,
Roberta Nerrison Low, Audrey Macklin, Rebecca Johnson, Pnina Lahav, Rich-
ard Lempert and Lisa Khan, James Boyd White, Omri Ben-Shachar, Yvonne,
Dan, and Steve Kaplan, and, of course, my family.
I am beholden to the many fabulous students, in Israel, Michigan, and
Slovenia, with whom I discussed and analyzed the films, and to friends and