Adoption

Winner of the Golden Bear (Best Film) at the 1975 Berlin Film Festival, Adoption opened up new ground for East and Central European filmmaking; here, finally, was a serious film about women, made by a woman, that tackled subjects otherwise taboo in cinema. Using a precise, observational aesthetic (pseudorealism), Mészáros centers the relationship of two women of different generations and means: Kata, a middle-aged bourgeoise who seeks a child with her married lover, and Anna, a tough teenager. Addressing love, marriage, family, and intimacy in a way barely seen before—utterly shorn of romanticism or sentimentality—Adoption turned Mészáros into a worldwide auteur.