A woman overcomes her fear of childbirth and embraces motherhood..
Shannon Fife
United States
A tremor runs through the opening iris-in: a woman’s gloved hand hovering above a cradle that is still, cruelly, empty. The cradle rocks only in her mind, and that interior sway sets the tempo for every subsequent image in Maternity. The film, released in the autumn of 1917 when Europe hemorrhaged and America held it...
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Comparing the cinematic DNA and archive impact of two defining moments in cult history.
John B. O'Brien
John B. O'Brien
Community
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" A tremor runs through the opening iris-in: a woman’s gloved hand hovering above a cradle that is still, cruelly, empty. The cradle rocks only in her mind, and that interior sway sets the tempo for every subsequent image in Maternity. The film, released in the autumn of 1917 when Europe hemorrhaged and America held its breath, refuses to monumentalize motherhood; instead it atomizes the dread of it, frame by gossamer frame. David Powell’s direction favors the oblique glance rather than the dec..."
