The Divine Order, 2017.
Written and Directed by Petra Volpe.
Starring Marie Leuenberger, Maximilian Simonischek, Rachel Braunschweig, Sibylle Brunner, Marta Zoffoli, Bettina Stucky, Ella Rumpf, Sofia Helm, and Nicholas Ofczarek.
SYNOPSIS:
With the vote over granting women’s suffrage fast approaching, one woman raises her voice in support in a small, Swiss town.
It’s easy to get wrapped up in your own country’s history and forget the fights taking place in other parts of the world. The Divine Order, Switzerland’s submission for this year’s Oscar’s Best Foreign Language film, opens with footage from the woman’s rights movement in America. Meanwhile, in Switzerland in 1971, women don’t have the right to vote, young girls deemed sexually promiscuous can be sent to jail by their parents, and a wife can’t legally get a job without her husband’s consent.
In its best parts, Divine Order shows how one person can make a difference in very achievable ways. Nothing about Nora’s (Marie Leuenberger) revolution is fancy, and it mostly bottles down to knowing a printer and speaking up. That, in itself, takes no small amount of courage, but anyone can do it, and when Nora wants to apply for a part-time job as a secretary, her husband, Hans (Maximilian Simonischek), says ‘no.’
Later, after reading some literature on women’s suffrage, Nora decides not to donate to a local group that’s pushing people against it. That one action is all it takes for the ladies in her town to start to unite. Nora didn’t need a multi-step plan to launch a revolution. Not donating in front of the woman’s club wasn’t planned. When Vroni (Sibylle Brunner) approaches her afterwards and says, “I’m in,” Nora hadn’t intended a follow-up.
Nora made the first move, but the movement takes on a life of its own. Unlike leaders who let power get to their heads, Nora is often the last to realize she’s the group’s spokesperson. Caught off guard when her photo is used for the flier announcing their meeting, she’s equally surprised to learn she’ll be expected to give a speech. Nora didn’t mean for any of this to happen, but once she realizes how many women were consigned to living their lives in silence, she’s not going to be the person who loses their momentum.
Despite having a forceful counterpart in Charlotte Wipf (Therese Affolter), as the reigning female voice against women voting, the film doesn’t make too much out of their rivalry. You don’t see Charlotte threatening to take Hans’ promotion away, and none of Nora’s fliers are vandalized or removed. During the meeting they have a mini debate over a women’s place in the home, but it peters out rather quickly.
The imagery and writing of Divine Order tends to be on the nose. At one point the shadow of the blinds makes a caged bird and Nora’s night time routine with her kids is to look at places on a globe. Nora wants to be free, but these heavy-handed metaphors get in the way, just as the film’s use of one of the characters as fodder for a tide-changing speech feels low.
Until it’s somewhat regrettable ending, Divine Order doesn’t pretend change happens overnight. Hans makes to talk to Nora during their women’s strike. The first thing he wants to discuss is whether she was telling the truth about never having an orgasm. Her sons consider having to eat eggs again and that’s when they mention they wish mommy would come home. They miss what she did for them (of that, there’s never been doubt) but their patriarchal views are intact.
A subplot around female sexuality is played for laughs but laments how women were kept in the dark about their bodies, while gender stereotypes come under fire, for how they define what is masculine. The Divine Order is easy enough to watch, but could use a less circular conclusion.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★
Rachel Bellwoar
Originally published November 19, 2017. Updated April 18, 2018.
