Town Bloody Hall
Town Bloody Hall

Movie spotlight

Town Bloody Hall

1979
Movie
88 min
English

Norman Mailer and a panel of feminists — Jacqueline Ceballos, Germaine Greer, Jill Johnston, and Diana Trilling — debate the issue of Women's Liberation.

Insights

IMDb7.0/10
Rotten Tomatoes93%
Director: Chris Hegedus, Robert Polidori, D. A. PennebakerGenres: Documentary, News

Plot Summary

This documentary captures a spirited and often contentious 1971 debate held at New York's Town Hall, focusing on the burgeoning feminist movement. The film pits prominent feminist Germaine Greer against her detractors, including writer Diana Trilling and cultural critic Norman Mailer. The lively exchange explores radical feminism's implications for society, personal relationships, and the very definition of womanhood.

Critical Reception

Town Bloody Hall is widely regarded as a landmark documentary for its raw and unfiltered depiction of a pivotal cultural moment. Critics lauded its ability to capture the intellectual fervor and personal animosity of the debate, even as some found its pacing occasionally uneven. Audiences were engaged by the fierce arguments and the intellectual sparring between the participants.

What Reviewers Say

  • A fascinating, often explosive, intellectual showdown.

  • Captures the intensity and complexity of second-wave feminism.

  • A valuable historical document of a significant cultural clash.

Google audience: No specific Google user ratings or reviews are readily available for this historical documentary.

Fun Fact

While the debate took place in 1971, the film was not released until 1979 due to challenges in editing and distribution, and it premiered at the New York Film Festival.

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