Unclenching the Fists

SPOILERS Born from the Chechen Belsan school hostage incident, this award-winning film is a personal voice that we so often don't hear in the world. You can spend more than the first half of this film wondering why you're watching it. At first I thought, "oh, this is about an abusive father." And then, I thought, "oh, another film about a dysfunctional family." There is only the very slighte...

Ada's fists were clenched throughout resembling a state of infancy, and her body wound up tight, such a somatic symbolism of helplessness. It's so affecting that we surely feel the discomfort crawl around in our own bodies when seeing personal space being invaded and the ways of life stifled by different masculine forces in Ada's life. There's also a lack of motherly affection and a feminine ...