Film & TV Lunch Club: August 2023 - Sisters
Film & TV Lunch Club: August 2023 - Sisters
A League of Their Own, The Wonders, The Stroll
Apparently National Sisters Day happens on the first Sunday of August, which was the inspiration behind this month’s theme. Though I don’t have a ‘real’ sister, some of my closest friends have often been like a sister to me and when I think about it, I feel like I have been, or am, part of a handful of sisterhoods. They’re not the sort of thing that you can brand as such (“Would you like to join our sisterhood?” just sounds contrived - perhaps that’s what they try to do with sororities in the US), but in my experience they grow organically as the lives of girls and women converge, and we console each other on the basis that we are together in periods of change, collective interest, upheaval or celebration.
Of course, sisterhood in its classic iteration through a blood bond brings with it the wonderful and frightening unfiltered versions of people as they behave with a knowing that no matter what, their sister will be there for them. We see this played out brilliantly in 10 Things I Hate About You, with grumpy older sister Kat still protective of her sibling Bianca even though she fundamentally disagrees with her choices. Then there’s Katniss Everdeen, who exemplifies the ultimate sisterly sacrifice as she volunteers as tribute in her sister’s place in The Hunger Games - the entire catalyst for the film series. Interestingly, Anna and Elsa from Frozen weren’t originally sisters, but the writing team decided that having a family link made the story more dynamic. It’s almost unimaginable to think of them as non-sisters now.
One of my favourite depictions of sisterhood in film is Skate Kitchen. Actually, it’s one of my favourite ever films and I haven’t added it here because it was in the July 2020 selection. But the friends that the main character meets are part of a sisterhood almost out of necessity because they exist in such a male-dominated space that there is a need to form something more in order to thrive.
Knowing that someone has got your back is a consistent thread in the films featuring sisters - whether related or not - and these intense, important relationships form in contexts ranging from sports teams, cults, foster homes and manor houses. It’s a reliance on people and a belief in something more than the individual because the connections in a sisterhood go beyond transactional. Sisters and sisterhood can hold the potential to become transformational and completely change how girls and women perceive theirselves and the world. That life-affirming sense of belonging, in whatever form it takes, must be cherished!
I could write about this all day so let’s dive in to the August selection and long list:
🎞 August Selection 🎞
Official Trailer: A League of Their Own (1992) | Sony Pictures
A League of Their Own (1992; Dir. Penny Marshall)
Two sisters join the first female professional baseball league and struggle to help it succeed amid their own growing rivalry. Currently streaming on ITV X (UK). You can also rent or buy from on Apple TV, Amazon, Google or YouTube.The Wonders (Le meraviglie) (2014; Dir. Alice Rohrwacher)
A family of beekeepers living in the Tuscan countryside finds their household disrupted by the simultaneous arrival of a silently troubled teenage boy and a reality TV show intent on showcasing the family. Stream on Mubi or buy/rent in the usual places.The Stroll (2023; Dir. Zackary Drucker and Kristen Lovell)
The history of New York's Meatpacking District told from the point of view of transgender sex workers who lived and worked there - an exploration of a sisterhood alongside activism in the community. Stream on Now TV.
🎬 The Long List: Optional Extras 🎬
Other notable films/TV shows suggested for the theme:
Sister Sister - Tia Landry and Tamera Campbell are twins separated at birth who learn of each other's existence and come together as teenagers.
Full House - A widowed sportscaster raises his three daughters with assistance from his rock and roll brother-in-law and madcap best friend.
Two of a Kind - A show about a single father who has his hands full raising twin sisters Mary-Kate and Ashley.
Gilmore Girls - A dramedy centering around the relationship between a thirtysomething single mother and her teen daughter living in Stars Hollow, Connecticut. No, not sisters, but their relationship often feels sisterly.
Pride and Prejudice (mini-series) - While the arrival of wealthy gentlemen sends her marriage-minded mother into a frenzy, willful and opinionated Elizabeth Bennet matches wits with haughty Mr. Darcy.
10 Things I Hate About You - A high-school boy, Cameron, cannot date Bianca until her anti-social older sister, Kat, has a boyfriend. So, Cameron pays a mysterious boy, Patrick, to charm Kat (Bianca’s sister!).
Little Women - Jo March reflects back and forth on her life, telling the beloved story of the March sisters - four young women, each determined to live life on her own terms.
Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants - Four best girlfriends hatch a plan to stay connected with one another as their lives start off in different directions: they pass around a pair of secondhand jeans that fits each of their bodies perfectly.
Hocus Pocus 1 & 2 - A teenage boy named Max and his little sister move to Salem, where he struggles to fit in before awakening a trio of diabolical witches that were executed in the 17th century. The Sanderson Sisters accidentally return to Salem in Hocus Pocus 2.
The Hunger Games - Katniss Everdeen voluntarily takes her younger sister's place in the Hunger Games: a televised competition in which two teenagers from each of the twelve Districts of Panem are chosen at random to fight to the death.
Frozen - When the newly crowned Queen Elsa accidentally uses her power to turn things into ice to curse her home in infinite winter, her sister Anna teams up with a mountain man, his playful reindeer, and a snowman to change the weather condition.
Hanging Up - A trio of sisters bond over their ambivalence toward the approaching death of their curmudgeonly father, to whom none of them was particularly close.
Kelly and Her Sisters - An affecting record of the day-to-day life of a family living in a condemned house on a run-down estate in Birmingham.
White Christmas - A successful song-and-dance team become romantically involved with a sister act and team up to save the failing Vermont inn of their former commanding general.
Meet Me In St Louis - Young love and childish fears highlight a year in the life of a turn-of-the-century family.
La Mif (The Fam) - A group of teenage girls have been placed in a residential care home with social workers. This forced "family" experience creates unexpected tensions and intimacies. An incident triggers a chain of over-reactions.
Sisters - Two sisters decide to throw one last house party before their parents sell their family home.
The Virgin Suicides - A group of male friends become obsessed with five mysterious sisters who are sheltered by their strict, religious parents in suburban Detroit in the mid 1970s.
Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962) - A former child star torments her paraplegic sister in their decaying Hollywood mansion.
Mustang - When five orphan girls are seen innocently playing with boys on a beach, their scandalized conservative guardians confine them while forced marriages are arranged.
Sister Act - When a nightclub singer is forced to take refuge from the mob in a convent, she ends up turning the convent choir into a soulful chorus complete with a Motown repertoire, until the sudden celebrity of the choir jeopardizes her identity.
🔜 Next Month 🔜
The theme for September will be FOR THE LOVE OF LANGUAGE (as it will be the European Day of Languages on 26 September) - so lots of films celebrating European languages with non-English titles aplenty. Please drop your recommendations for this in the comments or on Insta!