The Stepford Wives (1975)

Movie
German title	The Stepford wives
Original title	The Stepford Wives
Country of production	United States
original language	English
Publishing year	1975
length	110 minutes
Age rating	FSK 12
Rod
Director	Bryan Forbes
script	William Goldman
production	Edgar J. Scherick
music	Michael Small
camera	Enrique Bravo , Owen Roizman
cut	Timothy Gee
occupation
Katharine Ross : Joanna Eberhart Paula Prentiss : Bobby Markowe Peter Masterson : Walter Eberhart Nanette Newman : Carol Van Sant Tina Louise : Charmaine Wimpiris Carol Eve Rossen : Dr. Fancher William Prince : Ike Mazzard Carole Mallory : Kit Sunderson Toni Reid : Marie Axhelm Judith Baldwin : Patricia Cornell Barbara Rucker : Mary Ann Stravros George Coe : Claude Axhelm Franklin Cover : Ed Wimpiris Robert Fields : Raymond Chandler Michael Higgins : Mr. Cornell Mary Stuart Masterson : Kim Eberhart Ronny Sullivan : Amy Eberhart Dee Wallace : Nettie Patrick O'Neal : Dale Coba

The Stepford Wives (original title: The Stepford Wives ) is an American science fiction - thriller from the year 1975 . Directed by Bryan Forbes and written by William Goldman based on the 1972 novel The Wives of Stepford by Ira Levin .

action

The photographer Joanna Eberhart and her husband Walter, a lawyer, have two children. The family moves from New York to rural Stepford, Connecticut . While Walter quickly made friends with the local men and was soon accepted into the city's men's club, the emancipated Joanna felt increasingly lonely and isolated in her new environment. She is particularly disturbed by the emphatically upright and submissive demeanor of all the other wives in the town. A short time later, however, she meets the resolute Bobby Markowe, in whom she not only finds a fellow sufferer, but also a friend. Various attempts by the two women to inspire the female population of Stepford for the virtues of independent thinking, however, seem doomed to failure from the outset. For example, a discussion group initiated by both on the subject of “special women's problems” quickly moves into the discussion about which is the better and more effective detergent. Joanna and Bobby are at a loss ... especially when Charmaine, the only Stepford wife who was close to the autonomous way of thinking, had the tennis court on their property broken open a few days later in order to have a swimming pool built as a present for her husband.

In their perplexity, Joanna and Bobby visit a chemist who once had a relationship with Joanna in New York, who is supposed to analyze a sample of the Stepford water for the addition of sedatives . However, the investigation does not lead to any significant result.

Back in Stepford, Bobby's behavior also changes: The energetic, combative and hard-drinking friend, who previously performed her duties as a housewife and mother in a rather negligent manner, is now busy working in the kitchen.

When asked by her husband, the frightened Joanna seeks help from a psychiatrist outside Stepford, who listens benevolently to Joanna's problem. Since she realizes Joanna's great fear, she advises her to leave Walter with the children, to turn her back on Stepford immediately and to contact her a few days later about another appointment. Joanna already suspects that she will no longer be the same person at the time mentioned.

Before she can actually implement the planned escape, Joanna is lured into the meeting house of the men's club under a pretext. There she learns that the mystery surrounding the wives of Stepford has been resolved: all women have been replaced by androids by their husbands . Joanna is then murdered by her own copy, which subsequently takes her place.

Reviews

The lexicon of international films wrote that the film "surprisingly develops its horror from the banalities of everyday bourgeoisie" . He caricatures the “ patriarchal structure of American society” in a “fantastically exaggerated” way .

Cinema magazine wrote that the film " touched the viewer with kid gloves" . He used the horror elements "unobtrusively and rather cautiously" and added a "deliciously macabre comedy " that mocked "life in the extremely conservative American province" .

Awards

Katharine Ross won the 1976 Golden Scroll for Best Actress from the US Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films . The film was nominated for the Golden Scroll for best science fiction film .

backgrounds

The film was shot in New York City and various locations in Connecticut . It was released in US cinemas on February 12, 1975. The video premiere in Germany took place on October 17, 1980. This was followed by three sequels produced for television and the remake The Women of Stepford from 2004 with Nicole Kidman in the role of Joanna Eberhart.

literature

• Stefan Preis: The filmic representation of gated communities using the example of “The Stepford Wives” and “The Village” . Interfilm Academy Munich 2015

Web links

• The Stepford Wives in the Internet Movie Database (English)
• The Stepford Wives in the online film database
• The Stepford Women in the Lexicon of International Films
• The Stepford Wives at Rotten Tomatoes (English)

Individual evidence

1. ^ Lexicon of International Films , accessed on July 9, 2008
2. ↑ Cinema , accessed July 9, 2008
3. ^ Filming locations for The Stepford Wives , accessed July 9, 2008
4. ↑ Release dates for The Stepford Wives , accessed July 9, 2008
5. ↑ uk.rottentomatoes.com ( Memento of the original dated May 8, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed July 9, 2008