Unfortunately, it is rare that male directors choose to write and direct women protagonists, let alone choose to depict older women, controversial women, or women who do not fit traditional models of femininity. Mike Mills has achieved a feat with 20TH CENTURY WOMEN. The film is essentially an ode to women in his life, specifically his mother. His treatment of the titular women of his film renders them beautifully: they are flawed and unkempt, unruly and complex.
Mills collaborated closely with actresses Annette Bening, Greta Gerwig, and Elle Fanning to bring their characters to life. In an interview with Screen Crush, Bening recalls how her insights helped shape what ended up onscreen: “Mike very clearly, from the very moment that I met him, was like, ‘Look, the catalyst is my mom, but we’re making a character here and it’s going to be through your lens.’ I remember at first and especially because […] he’d been thinking about [the subject] for so many years […] he would talk and talk and talk and I would just listen, and I would think, ‘Wait a minute, you said that, but then you also said that, does that make sense? If she’s this way, then how could she also be that way?’”
For research, Mills also interviewed important women in his life, using their experiences and emotions as fuel for his story. He told NPR, “I was very worried and wanted to find where my limitations were and sort of make them part of the piece. I like that, it’s [a] slightly documentary, slightly journalistic flavor to the writing practice and it gets you out of your little cell.”
— Diana Martinez, Film Streams Education Director
