True Women

"True women" was a wonderful surprise. When I read the summary, it sounded very similar to many women drama wannabes that are built behind the belief that anything with the excuse of a different point of view of an otherwise often told story will sell, but they often lack strong characters and, well, a convincing and catchy story. "True women" has all of the above and more: well-written characters, a solid storyline with several dramatic climaxes, and enough emotion to keep the viewer sympathizing and empathizing with the characters, or at least understanding them, even if one might not always agree with them.

The story is subdivided in two subplots: the story of Euphemia, who grows up learning to fight the Indian tribes still surviving in the Texan territory; and the story of Georgia, a beautiful girl who finds out she is of Indian descent, a fact that will condition her whole life. The two girls are close friends, though separated early on. The film follows each one's story, which will often intertwine with that of the other's. It's all set in the War of Independence and in the American Civil War, and the film adequately portrays the social and political turmoil of those years.

This movie is an amalgam of western, adventure, romance, drama, and it also takes a feminist standpoint, though it will also be enjoyed by men. I recommend it.

Some could say this is a feel good film for women. And I guess it is indeed a movie that women's rights types could focus upon to reinforce their views. However, the movie went beyond that narrow thought line. I'm an old geezer with no fear of strong women, and this film was full of them. OK, the book was written by a woman, the movie directed by a woman, the main characters filled by women and there were a few put-downs of men. But the film was so well done that it made no difference. I'm a long time fan of rough and tumble Westerns and this one did not disappoint. It was cleverly put together to appeal to both men and women. It brought forth many elements including strong, resourceful characters, action-packed tempo, sensuality, meaningful dialog, ideals, top notch acting and much more. Much of the movie covers the women holding down their homes and land while the men are of fighting the Texas Revolution at the Alamo and Goliad all the way through the aftermath of the American Civil War. They fight off Indian attacks and other dangers. You cannot, I repeat, you cannot - go wrong watching this movie! OK, now let me get into the actors and actresses themselves. The lead of Sarah was played by Dana Delany and what a professional job. Performances don't get much better. She has had a long line of successes from Broadway and Off Broadway, China Beach TV show with two Emmy awards and movie success as well. Her husband was played by Powers Boothe who was usually off fighting a battle instead of protecting the home front, which seems to be the theme of the movie for the women. Annabeth Gish did a powerful job playing the adult Euphemia. No relation to the Gish sisters, although who knows if she checks her roots. I want to say something about the girl playing Euphemia as a child. Wow! What a bright and professional job was done by Tina Majorino. She was only 11 or 12 at the time and already a growing star. She did not overact her part, she nailed it just right. I remembered her playing the little girl in Waterworld but she also featured in When a Man Loves a Woman, Corrina, Corrina and more recently Napoleon Dynamite. With such a bright future, she will hopefully not get side tracked by the usual Hollywood nonsense and achieve great things. She certainly has the talent. The other young girl was Rachael Leigh Cook who played young Georgia. A beautiful girl who gave a haunting performance as a girl caught between being White and Indian. Angelina Jolie as Georgia? Well, what can I say about Angelina, daughter of Jon Voight? She is a good actress but she is immersed in that Hollywood madness. There were many others of course and there were a couple of quick parts too - John Schneider of Dukes of Hazard played Sam Houston and Lizzie McGuire's Hillary Duff was in this first movie as an extra. The story was engrossing, the acting outstanding and the time well spent - see this one!

True Women is essentially a Western Drama that revolves around the lives and times of 3 women,different in their ideals and personalities but similar in their inner strength and courage.It is a poignant story told vividly and effectively on the plains of Texas.It successfully avoids stereotypes and builds up stong,real characters. I loved this movie and I'd watch it over again in a heartbeat!!!This was one story that was truly moulded and made by its actors.Every actor was seemingly made for their respective character.Delaney,Gish and Jolie gave impressive performances but the most spectacular piece of acting for me was that of Tina Majorino,in every movie I have seen featuring this young actress she has always given a performance far more mature than one does expect of her and her role as young Euphemia was no different.There were times in this movie where certain events didn't exactly fit and moments when certain actors seemed uneasy and slipped out of character but the momentum was quickly regained.This movie I think is one of those few movies that truly and sincerely celebrates WOMEN!

I, as a professional writer, was recently contacted by a cousin of Janice Woods Windle to edit a writing that she had done about the true characters in the True Women saga. In addition to her narrative, she sent me numerous photos that she had collected over her lifetime of the actual persons involved. I managed to compile her writing into an orderly fashion, and convert the old photos into a format that could be inserted into the writing in the appropriate places. Much of the history that she presented came from the movie, but, from other documentations, is accurate in a general sense. What makes her writing so important is that she had the photos of the actual characters which I managed to implant into the writing. Since there is so much interest in the movie itself, I'm sure that some would like to read more about the individuals and, especially, see the actual photos of some of them.

I'm unsure if the lady would be willing to release the work to public view, but I think that it should, due, especially, because of the photos. If enough people are interested, I may be able to convince the lady to make it public.

For further information, contact me at: bobhist@yahoo.com

Janice Woods Windle who wrote the book about her family history did a great job of putting it on a tv mini series. All the actresses as in Delany, Gish, Jolie, Majorino and Cook were greatly acted in the movie. Stuggling the life of being women and life of the battle of love and war. Now that's good History.