Natalie Portman Says Men Just Don’t Understand Women’s Relationships
Image by Getty Images
Relationships between women remain a mystery to men, U.S.-Israeli actress Natalie Portman said at the Venice film festival on Thursday, adding her voice to calls for the movie industry to employ more female directors.
Portman spoke while presenting “Planetarium,” a drama in which she and Lily-Rose Depp play two spiritualists in late 1930s France who are also sisters. Screening in the out-of-competition section in Venice, it is directed by Rebecca Zlotowski.
“It’s crazy that in 25 years of making films this is the first time I’ve been in a feature directed by a woman,” the 35-year-old actress told a news conference ahead of the movie’s premiere.
Portman said there were no inherent differences between female and male directors but opportunities for women – at least in the United States – were far fewer.
That in turn affected how stories were told, she said, with little regard to relationships between women which were “central to any women’s existence but of course invisible to any male imagination of female life.”
This year’s edition of the world’s oldest film festival features several strong female leads, including Amy Adams in thrillers “Arrival” and “Nocturnal Animals,” Dakota Fanning in survival epic “Brimstone” and Portman again as first lady Jacqueline Kennedy in drama “Jackie.”
But just two of the 20 movies vying for the coveted Golden Lion to be awarded on Saturday are directed by women; Ana Lily Amirpour’s “The Bad Batch” and Martina Parenti’s “Spira Mirabilis,” which she co-directed with Massimo D’Anolfi.
Portman, who won an Oscar for her role in ballet thriller “Black Swan” and made her own directorial debut with drama “A Tale of Love and Darkness,” said she enjoyed working with 17-year-old Depp, the daughter of maverick actor Johnny.
“It’s always a joy when you get to work with another woman on set and not be ‘one of the boys’, which is what you get used to as an actress in the U.S.,” she said.
Depp, said she was attracted to her role because of the character’s strength and depth, unusual in a cinematic portrayal of a young women.
“She knows things that the adults surrounding her don’t know … she’s strong because of that and she defends her family, she takes care of her sister,” Depp said.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we still need 300 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Only 300 more gifts needed by April 30
