Posted by:
Brother Of Jerry
(
)
Date: December 01, 2021 02:21PM
A little over a year ago I did a post about Canadian author Miriam Toews, who has 9 novels about Mennonite culture, often dealing with the difficulties of leaving the culture. I post about them here because it is often easier for people to see the issues of cult-like religions when it is some other religion, other than the one they personally are in.
This apparently strikes a nerve with a lot of people, considering the popularity of the genre, and TV programs like Unorthodox.
Two of Ms Toews books are being made into movies.
https://anabaptistworld.org/toews-novels-leap-to-the-big-screen/From the article:
Starring Alison Pill and Sarah Gadon, All My Puny Sorrows focuses on two Mennonite sisters. They have left their strict Mennonite upbringing after their father’s suicide and navigate depression and suicidal thoughts, tracing a thread of generational trauma stretching back to their immigrant Mennonite grandfather’s persecution by Bolsheviks.
The film premiered Sept. 10 in Toronto. Reviewers suggest that while this drama oscillates powerfully between joy and sadness, it is even more focused on using the characters’ humanity to open societal conversations about mental health and suicide.
Director Michael McGowan told Variety he was attracted to the adaptation because of the way the book examines with empathy the reasons people want to die or commit suicide, especially within a community where religion’s influence is prevalent.
Women Talking, starring Frances McDormand in the lead role, was filming in August and September in Toronto. Based on the novel by the same name inspired by actual allegations of widespread rape in an Old Colony Mennonite community in Bolivia, the plot follows a group of isolated women who are sexually assaulted by nine of the community’s men.
In secret meetings, they debate whether to betray pacifist teachings and fight back, or to leave the church — and therefore God — by fleeing the community.
The acclaimed book was released in the wake of multiple celebrity sexual-misconduct and assault scandals and the #MeToo movement. By addressing society’s habit of tolerating men’s boorish behavior, Women Talking struck a chord with its unflinching look at how women suffer the consequences.
Directed by Sarah Polley, the film is also produced by McDormand, who won last year’s Academy Award for best picture and best actress with Nomadland. The cast for Women Talking also includes high-profile actresses Rooney Mara and Claire Foy.
The article also profiles her latest novel, Fight Night.
Review of Women Talking:
https://www.npr.org/2019/04/06/709530968/these-women-talking-build-their-own-faith-and-futureGeneral article about Miriam Toews:
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/03/25/a-beloved-canadian-novelist-reckons-with-her-mennonite-pastAnd as long as I am being the arts and culture editor for the week here, here is a review of the latest from Louise Erdrich, down the road a couple hundred miles from where Toews grew up. Erdrich is from Fargo, ND, and writes about the interaction between the white and Ojibwe cultures in the northern plains.
https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/louise-erdrich/the-sentence-erdrich/So, keep an eye out for Toews' films, and if you are looking for some good reading this winter, Erdrich and Toews are very good at their craft, and are tangentially relevant to the exMo experience.