Riddance

An early scene of women putting on makeup zeroes in on the theme of Riddance, one of Mészáros’s most biting examinations of unequal social constructs and facades. A young weaver in a textile mill falls for an upper-class college boy and, for a time, passes herself off as a student; soon she tells him the truth, but what do they tell his parents? And at what point does a lie end and integrity begin? This is one of Mészáros’s most documentary-like films, with poignant glimpses of women at work, at play, and—in one scene that stands out for its calm—finally alone and cleansed.