The Female Friendship Film You Haven’t Seen
Being young and living in a city can sometimes feel as though you are on the precipice of loneliness at a time when you need connection more than ever.
In 1978, a female director made a movie that would be difficult to make even today. Girlfriends, directed by Claudia Weill, is the story of Susan, a young photographer who experiences loneliness after her best friend Anne leaves their shared apartment to settle down with a boyfriend. The film follows her through her ‘break-up’, as she adjusts to living alone for the first time in New York City.
It’s the kind of narrative that is so familiar, not just for many young women, but to a lot of young people who not only experience the drifting of significant friendships but may even feel bitterness and a sense of betrayal afterwards.
Watching Girlfriends recently was particularly affirming for me at the stage of life I am in. I’m in my mid-twenties and have just finished a degree. Some of my friends are moving away, getting married, having children. Being young and living in a city can sometimes feel as though you are on the precipice of loneliness at a time when you need connection more than ever, and a sense that there are so many directions you could go in that it’s often disorienting to know which path to take.
