Exceptional Woman

A bestselling master of historical fiction, James Alexander Thom has brought unforgettable Native American figures to life for millions of readers, powerfully dramatizing their fortitude, fearsomeness, and profound fates. Now he and his wife, Dark Rain, have created a magnificent portrait of an astonishing woman–one who led her people in war when she could not persuade them to make peace.

The 19 outstanding contemporary Hoosier women profiled by Michael S. Maurer—one for each star in the Indiana state flag—are leaders and pioneers who have excelled in a variety of pursuits, including law, business, philanthropy, government, medicine, music, art, athletics, religion, and education. Among the inspiring life stories are those of the first woman named chief judge of the U.S. District Court in Indiana, the first to establish a Holocaust museum in the state, and the first woman elected Indiana's lieutenant governor.

Comparing his heroine, Tome Matsuki (played by Sachiko Hidari, who won the “Best Actress” award at the 1964 Berlin Film Festival for the role) to the restlessness and survival instincts of worker insects, the film is an unsparing study of working-class female life. Beginning with Tome’s birth in 1918, it follows her through five decades of social change, several improvised careers, and male-inflicted cruelty. Elliptically plotted, brimming over with black humour and taboo material, and immaculately staged in crystalline NikkatsuScope, The Insect Woman is arguably Imamura’s most radical and emphatic testament to female resilience.

From director Patty Jenkins and starring Gal Gadot in the title role, in “Wonder Woman 1984” the fate of the world is once more on the line, and only Wonder Woman can save it.