Antonia's Line

REVIEW
A celebration of the love, unity and strength of women, this wonderfully endearing and touching family chronicle/fable centering on four generations of women playfully alternates between dramatic realism and magical realism. The story, set in a small Dutch village, spans decades -- from the devastation of the post-war period to the present -- and follows the fiercely independent-minded Antonia (Ammelrooy), who returns to her childhood farmhouse to till the soil and raise a family; all without the aid of the misogynist townsfolk, a hypocritical church and the often violence-prone men. Antonia is aided by her lesbian daughter, a granddaughter and great-granddaughter and a group of social rejects who flock to her. This Oscar-winning Best Foreign Film is masterful storytelling that enthralls. (Dutch with English subtitles)