“In
her tongue is the law of kindness,” one sermon says referring to the title
character of Marleen Gorris’ Antonia’s
Line. And, indeed, the thriving, cheerful matriarchy Antonia creates is
ruled by her own kind of law, removed from formal institutions, a form of
justice that is not blind, and which knows only kindness, compassion,
acceptance, and love. The film is a zany, fantastical story of warm humanism,
forceful feminism, the everyday realities of rural life mixed with the magic
realism of Latin America and the dour European philosophies on death and
nothingness, all in a lyrical, beautiful, bucolic pastoral fantasy filled with
colorful, unforgettable characters. As played by Willeke van Ammelrooy, Antonia
is a strong, sturdy, robust woman with a sincere smile, far removed from
Hollywood standards of beauty but infused with a natural glow and warmth that
make her truly beautiful. The legacy she leaves her daughter Danielle (Els
Dottermans), her granddaughter Therese (played at six by Carolien Spoor, at
thirteen by Esther Vriesendorp, and as an adult by Veerle van Overloop), and
her great-granddaughter Sarah (Thyrza Ravesteijn) will live on long after she
has died, carried on from woman to woman down the title’s line.
***This is a brief analysis of some of the film's themes, not a review. It contains only mild spoilers.
***This is a brief analysis of some of the film's themes, not a review. It contains only mild spoilers.
