10/08/2023
Stuntwomen, by Elena Avdija, shares the journeys of three different people with three different experiences in the same industry. They have one major thing in common, they are all stuntwomen.
We are first introduced to Virginie Arnaud, one of the most famous stuntwomen in France, she has performed with iconic French actors such as Catherine Deneuve. Through her story, we learn about the intense physical and violent training necessary for her profession as well as her experience as a mother. Virginie describes her most dangerous scene as a motorcycle fall, in which her entire body crashes to the ground. Virginie teaches us about the limited opportunities for stuntwomen in comparison to stuntmen. Roles for men require more physical endurance: jumping, climbing, or fighting. Whereas stuntwomen are often restricted to roles where they are the victims of physical, and often sexual, abuse.
We then meet Estelle Piget, who is in the training process to become a stuntwoman. An image that stands out is the heavy bruises on her legs, evidently caused by hours of intense training. Estelle has formed a group of stuntwomen; they discuss being women in the industry, the problems of having children, and the potential of children ruining your career. A funny moment is when they are training in a park, practicing how to run and play fighting whilst wearing tall stilettos.
Petra Sprecher grew up in Switzerland and struggles between the choice of a Hollywood acting career in the limelight or a stunt career in the shadows. Nothing seems to scare her, as she performs stunts such as falling into water from a great height, being thrown through ladders, or jumping from balconies. In one scene, she visits the plastic surgeon to get Botox, revealing some of the beauty standards for women in Hollywood.
Watching Stuntwomen made me consider sides to film production I have never even thought about before. Despite the increasing use of artificial intelligence in film production, Stuntpeople remain crucial for creating realistic violence on screen. A car flip or a hit-and-run maybe just a few seconds in a scene, but it takes years of training to build up the physical endurance to get to that point.
All three women are working towards challenging gender roles in the stunt industry. Towards the end of the documentary, each of the women discovers new sides to the stunt - Virginie begins trapeze, Estelle learns to fall from heights and Petra trains for violent car stunts.
Stuntwomen is an empowering documentary that takes its audience behind the scenes of violence while also providing commentary on the difficulty faced by women in the stunt industry.
By: Gwendy Davenport
