Ms. 45: Abel Ferrara

One of the eternal dilemmas facing film critics concerns the treatment of films with content that they find morally repugnant. Film criticism, by its very nature, requires a tenuous balance between scholastic objectivity and subjective interpretation. Should a film critic praise a film if it's well-made even if they find it detestable? Should a film critic ignore legitimate artistic merit if they find a film offensive? I was recently confronted with this quandary after watching Abel Ferrara's Ms. 45. The film is a rape-revenge thriller that follows a mentally unstable seamstress named Thana as she embarks on a misandristic murder spree after being raped twice in one afternoon. I cannot stand the rape-revenge sub-genre of exploitation cinema. But here's the catch: Ms. 45 is immaculately made and sets itself apart from other films of the genre. The two rape scenes take place in the first ten minutes and don't objectify the actress' body or suffering, at least when compared to other rape-revenge films like I Spit on Your Grave (1978). These films exploited their central protagonists' rape in order to titillate the audience. Ms. 45, much like Hannie Caulder (1971), the only other rape-revenge film that I actively enjoy, tries to get the main assault out of the way as quickly as possible so it can focus on the protagonist's growth as a character. It also helps that Ferrara made Thana mute, thereby forcing himself to depict her downward spiral visually. In fact, much of Ms. 45 feels like a silent film with incidental dialogue provided by incidental characters. The film is a veritable Pandora's Box of subtexts involving Catholic iconography, misogyny, sexuality, and the nature of violence. I may not agree with its content, but I would be a fool to deny Ms. 45's power and Ferrara's cinematic skill.

9/10