Cathardincu Surprisingly incoherent and boring

Odelecol Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

Jerrie It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

Dana An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

livinglifing Listen, I am all for equality in the workplace and anywhere else. It's not only the law, but it is fair. Black or white, man or woman, everyone has the right to be treated with respect and given opportunities to succeed. But, if audience appeal leans towards movies by men, what are studios supposed to do? They cant change the viewing habits and preferences of millions of people. If you want more women directing films, go out and convince the public to buy the product they are offering. It's a business. Ask yourself if you would throw away your livelihood to make a brief point? To be politically correct all the time. Everyone is comfortable going with the flow until it hits them in their own wallet. Stop crying and find a better way to achieve what you want...

Red-125 Half the Picture (2018) is a documentary directed by Amy Adrion. The problem discussed in this movie is that women direct only a small percentage of movies. Not only that, but this percentage is not getting larger. In fact, it may be getting smaller.The weakness of the film is that it's primarily a "talking head" documentary. We hear the same problematic story from woman after woman. Even if they direct a very successful film, their phone doesn't ring with calls from producers who want them to direct another film. The consensus is that most producers are men, and they just don't trust women to properly direct a movie.I knew about the grim prospects for women directors before I saw Half the Picture, but it was useful to get the facts first hand from the directors themselves.The problem I find with a movie like this is that nobody suggests any action, except maybe discrimination lawsuits. If someone in the audience wants to help change the situation, how would they do it?If you're a movie buff and/or a feminist, this film is well worth seeking out. We saw it on the large screen at Rochester's wonderful Little Theatre. It will work well on DVD.

rosegrimes Excellent portrait of Hollywood's current state, relative to women directors.Entertaining and yet profound call for immediate change.A must see.

JustCuriosity Half the Picture was well-received in its regional premiere (after screening at Sundance) at Austin's SXSW Film Festival. Anyone who has followed film will have noticed the phenomenon of how few films are directed by women. Whereas 20% of Congress is now women, there have only been a mere 5 women nominated for an Oscar for Best Director. The question is "Why?" The film is mostly a talking head film in which female directors, sometimes eloquently, sometimes humorously, tell their stories about trying to make it in the ultimate "old boy's club." It is a personal and inspiring film, but seems to lack a clear explanation and direction of why sexism has held on so long to the Director's Chair in supposedly liberal Hollywood. It touches on some interesting questions without clearly exploring them. It touches on the idea of how this affects the nature of the final films but doesn't really explain it in detail. It touches on an explanation rooted less in outright sexism and more in an institutional sexism that prevents women directors from accessing financing but doesn't really dig into the issue. It touches on the history of women in cinema without fully exploring the roots of sexism in Hollywood and in the studio system as a whole Rather than just speaking to female directors, the film could have benefited by speaking to more film historians, academics, and legal who study the financing of the industry. That sort of approach could have given it more grounded scholarly focus. Oddly, the film suffers in that in trying to give women directors a voice that it never interviews a single man who might have offered supportive insight or a broader context for the deeper institutional issues. Half the Picture is inspiring, charming, and entertaining and yet it lacks depth and its scattershot approach itself only tells half the story that it could have.