I Am Woman (2019)

The story of 1970s musician and activist Helen Reddy.

Director:

Unjoo Moon

Writer:

Emma Jensen

Stars:

Evan Peters, Tilda Cobham-Hervey, Danielle Macdonald

Cast

Credited cast:
Evan Peters	...	Jeff Wald
Tilda Cobham-Hervey	...	Helen Reddy
Danielle Macdonald	...	Lilian Roxon
Matty Cardarople	...	Roy Meyer
Jordan Raskopoulos	...	George Sylvia
Gus Murray	...	Paul Rankine
Molly Broadstock	...	Traci
Dusty Sorg	...	Dany Cornelius
Maddison-Cleo Musumeci	...	GoGo Dancer Party Guest
Rita Rani Ahuja	...	Maree Alvarez
Nicola Frew	...	Assistant
Michael-Anthony Taylor	...	David Dinkins
Franc Violi	...	Night Club Owner
Hiroshi Kasuga	...	Birthday Party Guest
Shakila Zab	...	Young Feminist

Storyline

1966. Helen Reddy arrives in New York with her three-year-old daughter, a suitcase and $230 in her pocket. She had been told she'd won a recording contract, but the record company promptly dashes her hopes by telling her it has enough female stars and suggests she has fun in New York before returning home to Australia. Helen, without a visa, decides to stay in New York anyway and pursue a singing career, struggling to make ends meet and provide for her daughter. There she befriends legendary rock journalist Lillian Roxon, who becomes her closest confident. Lillian inspires her to write and sing the iconic song "I Am Woman" which becomes the anthem for the second wave feminist movement and galvanises a generation of women to fight for change. She also meets Jeff Wald, a young aspiring talent manager who becomes her agent and husband. Jeff helps her get to the top, but he also suffers from a drug addiction, which gradually turns their relationship toxic. Caught in the treadmill of fame ...

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Plot Keywords:

toxic femininity | three word title | directorial debut | title based on song | title directed by female | 

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Taglines:

The Helen Reddy Story and the song that inspired a revolution

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Genres:

Biography | Drama | Music | Romance

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Did You Know?

Trivia

Sally Caplan, Head of Content at Screen Australia, said: "-'I Am Woman' has all the ingredients to make for a stellar Australian feature film about an extraordinary and ground breaking Australian singer, Helen Reddy, who wrote and sang the song that became the anthem for the women's movement in the '70s, and still resonates today. The film has a poignant and fascinating screenplay from Emma Jensen, precise vision from director, Unjoo Moon, producing acumen from Rosemary Blight of Goalpost Pictures, high production values from director of photography Dion Beebe, and is topped off with two amazing young Australian actresses, Tilda Cobham-Hervey and Danielle Macdonald."

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Connections

Referenced in CTV News at Six Toronto: Episode dated 5 September 2019 (2019)

User Reviews

Good, not great, and it should have been GREAT

I was a youngster living in Australia when Helen Reddy hit the scene and although she was kicking it in America she was proudly Australian and Australia was certainly proud to own her. I know her politics caused a huge stir and she was either loved or hated because of her politics. Either way she had presence and was a power house singer. Watch any you tube video and she commanded respect. None of this came across. I don't know Tilda's work but this felt far too big for her. Her build was tiny and lithe where as Helen Reddy was a strong looking solid woman. Check out her abs and broad shoulders on her performance 'I am Woman' on the Midnight special 1971. I wish I'd had abs like that and I'm a male! Also, Helen Reddy was a confident in your face singer and stared directly into the camera, often closing her eyes as she hit the soul part of the song. Tilda looked like she was timid and about to run off the stage, particularly when she sang in front of the crowd at the monument. So, nope. Her voice fell short too, reedy and lacking the force Helen Reddy was famous for. An unconvincing performance in my view. Helen Reddy did so much more than this movie showed and it's a shame her parts in movies and TV specials was left out. It only touched lightly on her politics so we never got to see her fierce avocation for women's rights. It was as if all she did was the songs and it wasn't.

This should have been a 2 or 3 part mini series or at least touched on other work on stage and screen. I felt a little cheated and to be honest, the story felt sanitised. No disrespect to to Tilda Cobham-Hervey who did her best. Unjoo Moon said she didn't know her before doing the movie, it showed.

Details

Official Sites:

South Australian Film Corporation Stan

Country:

Australia

Language:

English

Release Date:

11 September 2020 (USA)

Also Known As:

I Am Woman

Filming Locations:

Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Company Credits

Production Co:

Goalpost Pictures, Deep Blue Pacific

Technical Specs

Runtime:

116 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1