A Question Of Silence — A Question Of Silence(Blu Ray)
A Question Of Silence is a thought-provoking and at times provocative Dutch drama-come-crime mystery. The early 1980s film makes liberal and darkly satirical stabs at the treatment of women in Western society. It regards the murder of a male shop owner one Saturday afternoon, by three women who don’t know each other & seemingly did it with no motive/ premeditation. And the female psychiatrist, who is brought in to assess the women. Here from Cult Epics is a new region-free Blu-Ray- featuring a 2k restoration of the picture, a new commentary track, and a selection of archive extras.
A Question of Silence (aka De Stilte Rond Christine M) is from the year 1982. It was written & directed by Roermond, Limburg, Netherlands-born Marleen Gorris. Between the early 1980s and early 2000’s, she had eight full-length films. These Serial killer drama/thriller Gebroken Spiegels (1984), comedy drama Antonia's Line (1995), and biography drama Within the Whirlwind(2009) which focuses on a female literature professor- who was sent for ten years of hard labour in a gulag in Siberia during the time of Starlin’s reign. A Question of Silence was her debut film- and it’s a wonderful realized debut- which is well acted, nicely scoped, and impactful film.
The film opens with snapshots of the lives of the three women involved in the murder. Huisvrouw (Edda Barends) is a stay-at-home mother- who is rarely talked to by her husband and is just expected to look after the kids & their house. Secretaresse (Henriëtte Tol) works as an administrator in an office- but is constantly talked over & ignored by her male colleagues. And lastly, Koffiejuffrouw( Nelly Frijda) runs a café, where she is constantly belittled/ sexually mocked by her mainly male clientele.
The three women are brought in for the murder, and placed in a secure unit. This is where a female psychiatrist (Cox Habbema) is brought to assess the sanity of the three. And the film unfolds as a blend of the interviews between the psychiatrist & each woman, flashback look into each woman’s life, the murder itself which occurs in a women’s clothes shop, and in its last quarter the trial of the three- though in no way is this a courtroom drama.
Much of the film takes place in the secure unit- and this is filmed in a nicely cold and sterile fashion, with use of stripped-back & taut 80’s electronica. And at times I’m reminded of the early work of David Cronenberg. For the few scenes where we focus on the murder, it’s self- we don’t see any gore, only implied violence- but there is a tangible feeling of horror-like tension and at one point we get a rather unsettling dream sequence- which again locks into the horror & paranoid fantasy side of things. Though of course much of the film is focusing on the dramatic interaction between the women & the psychiatrist, as well as the psychiatrist and her lawyer husband- as the case becomes more & more impactful in her day-to-day life.
The film is often bracketed as a feminist drama- and yes, it’s clearly a drama from a female point of view- with most of the men in the film not painted in a great light. But I think its labelling may put off some people from watching it. Yes, thankful things are a lot better than they were in the 80s- but there still is a deficit/ focus on the male kind in Western society- so it still has telling/ important points to make.
The only real issue I had with the film was some of the pacing/ repetition of certain points. I feel if maybe the one hour and thirty-six-minute film had been cut down by say ten or so minutes, it would have flowed better and made its points more succinctly. But this is just a minor quibble- as there is no doubt A Question Of Silence is an important & very thought-provoking film.
Moving onto this new Blu-Ray from Cult Epics, and this is a multi-region disc. It takes in a new 2k transfer/ restoration of the film- this looks nice clean & clear in its early 1980s colour pallet. The film features English subtitles- which are mostly easy to read. On the new extras side, we get just one thing- this comes in the form of a commentary track from Dutch film scholar Patricia Pisters. She starts discussing the film's introduction to its lead women, their classes & jobs- touching briefly on the actress who played each/ their other notable roles. She comments on the director's precise visual style- saying at points it’s rather Hitchcock-like. She discusses the history of the main location in the film- it was a prison, which initially had no bars on the windows & apartment-like cells, though this changed after escape/ issues. She talks about the film's moments of focusing in on surveillance tech, and the use of cold synth tones. She discusses how the film captures very well the tone of the early 80s. She comments on key/ notable scenes. Later on, she discusses actress Cox Habbema, and her role as the psychiatrist- she quotes from interviews with the actress regarding the role, as well as talking about her career in depth. She talks about the film's themes, and how these are presented. The track is ok with some interesting facts/ observations made- though it is a little sporadic, and deadpan in places.
We get a few archive extras- a interview with director Marleen Gorriss(11.14), and one with actress Cox Habbema(16.22). There’s also a short newsreel regarding the film from Dutch TV. We get a promotional gallery, film trailer, and trailer reel for other films put out by Cult Epics.
All in all, it’s great to see this release of A Question Of Silence- as it really is a most impactful/thought-provoking drama- and don’t be put off by the feminist tag, as it’s a film for all. The new scan looks great, and we get a nice selection of extras too. Cult Epics really have been on a roll of late, releasing some most intriguing & interesting European films from the past.