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A Woman's Tale

Reviewer Roundup 1.  David Macdonald review follows 2.  Pedro Sena read the review

Here is a film which does what few Hollywood films would try to do; depict the life of an old person in a way which seems realistic. I've seen the Grumpy Old Men movies, I've watched The Golden Girls, but they are nothing like A Woman's Tale, which tries to give us the unvarnished, and, if you may, wrinkled truth.

The film was directed by Paul Cox, an Australian known for film such as Lonely Hearts and Man of Flowers. This movie is much like the bits of those other films (A Woman's Tale is the only one I've seen all the way through) -- it's slow, quiet and filled with warm and real moments.

The woman is named Martha -- she is about 80 years old, and has cancer of the lung, due to years of smoking that she isn't willing to give up. She lives in an apartment by herself, paid for by her son, who doesn't really approve of such an old person being on her own. A nurse, hired by her son, visits and checks up on her, but it's obvious that they are as much friends as nurse and patient. They get along so well, in fact, that Martha allows her to carry on an adulterous affair with a married man in her flat while she's out (the nurse, too, is married). Martha herself is pretty much independent otherwise; she stays alone in her apartment at night, with only her cat and her parakeet to keep her company, and she does the usual things that other seniors seem to do a lot, like hang out at the park with another old friend, and go to the usual social gatherings of other seniors (one shot is of her and a bunch of other old people singing songs at what appears to be the nearby old age home).

Martha is getting old, but she is not ready to give up just yet, even with the lung cancer that will take her life more sooner than later. In simple ways, she feels naturally justified to live her life as she chooses, as in a funny moment when she, accompanying the nurse and her boyfriend at a restaurant, lights up, even though it's a non-smoking establishment. She says that she loves smoking and that it never really hurt her all of these years, so why should it hurt anybody else. Then she points out that "tea, it kills you; coffee kills you" and points to the complaining manager that stress kills too.. Good points all, although in this politically correct, anti-smoking age, where smokers are painted in an only less harsher light than that of anthrax-laced letters, I doubt that too many people in authority would let her comments go by lightly. In stronger ways, she has lived so long and seen so many good and bad things that she wonders how anyone else could want to give up life. There's a great moment when she is listening to an all-night call in show (sort of like Talk Radio's Barry Champlain as a nice sensitive guy), and listens to a suicidal sixteen year old, whose boyfriend committed suicide, and who believes that there is nobody out there who cares for her. Martha is so moved that she calls up the show to speak to the girl herself, pleading with her not to do anything rash.of course Martha's hopes are not answered, since such a teenager as the caller is not mature enough to understand that life is to be lived, that life is all about ups and downs, and that just because a bad thing has happened doesn't mean that life is over, or useless. Only someone of Martha's age and mindset would appreciate such facts.

It's interesting that Martha's son would believe that Martha is incapable of taking care of herself, as if she is some sort of invalid, because it's clear in many ways that Martha is able to take care of others, or at least try to make them happy. She obviously does her best with the suicidal caller, although it would probably work better if the two weren't strangers. She is able to protect the fooling around of the nurse and her lover, and make them feel as if they are in a safe place. And she also takes care of the man next door. The man's name is Billy, and he too is a senior, and it is safe to say that he is far more gone than Martha could ever be; Billy was a former member of the military, but is now a senile old man. I wonder myself if perhaps he was shell-shocked from the war, and never fully recovered, or maybe he just naturally became the way he is; in any case, he is a lost man. He doesn't take care of himself, hygiene-wise, and wanders about the house and outside, sometimes locking himself out, or losing things. He also mostly speaks in a whisper. Somebody has to watch him, and Martha does that often.

I have to smile at the whole moral conundrum that is her tolerance for the adultery in her apartment. I guess I find it a bit odd that someone who professes to love life would approve of something that is rather destructive in the long term. Surer, there seems to be a thrill involved, but what about the unknowing partners (who are never seen)? Or.. (as we get clichéd here) what about the children???? Martha says a few times that she likes to see these two people happy, and even jokes about how envious she is...she seems to view them as embodiments of something she might have had earlier in life. Not having anything to do with adultery, most likely, but with young love, beauty and passion. She doesn't focus on the damaging aspects of this affair. But then again, she's been smoking for 60 years and pushes away the harmful aspects of that too, so it's not as if she thinks ahead. But that's okay..it's interesting to see an old person just act like a regular person, even! while obviously at the end of her life. She is someone who just wants to live life.

A Woman's Tale is certainly a good intro to Paul Cox the director, as well as a showcase for the old lady who plays Martha. I enjoyed certain portions of the film, and I bet if I watched it again, I'd like it more, as I'd be able to better understand and know the characters. The movie doesn't have a lot of plot, but it does have something which is probably even more unique, which is an honest examination of an old person's life. Instead of treating the fact of old age as a quirk or an excuse to create a sitcom, it merely shows an old person just being a person, and facing issues that all of us will inevitably face when we are 80 years old.

Copyright © 2001 David Macdonald