The Power Of Men Is The Patience Of Women
Made with the participation of the residents of “Frauenhaus,” a refuge for battered women, The Power Of Men... tells the story of Addi, a market woman who has for years been mentally and physically abused by her husband. Her attempts to break out of the marriage have been in vain until she hears on television of the existence of the women's refuge. There she receives the support she needs to separate from her husband, and eventually participates in the founding of a commune along with other women from the home. A number of the women portray their actual experiences, in a series of dramatic scenes accompanied by brief commentaries by those involved. The film has been praised for its convincing and straightforward depiction of a situation faced by a great many women (“the shameful reality of the circumstances was better served by a discreet documentation than by emotional outrage....”), for its probing into some of the roots of male aggression, and for treating the question often posed, “Why don't these women simply obtain a divorce?”
Cristina Perincioli worked for the newsreel group DFFB, and participated in the making of several films and in video projects for the women's, tenants' and students' movements before making The Power Of Men... in 1978.