The Man Who Envied Women

An acerbic, whip-smart account of a womanising professor at the breaking point of his marriage to a fed-up artist.

“You can ask me about the peculiarities of my shit; just don’t ask me how much money I have in the bank,” starts Jack Deller (played by both William Raymond and Larry Loonin), an academic in a well-worn suit who seemingly has a piece of critical theory to draw on for everything. The kind of man who theoretically leans feminist, he’s a conceited philanderer who lives to pontificate. The voice of his artist wife Trisha (Trisha Brown) challenges him, though she’s not usually onscreen; aside from an enigmatic appearance by French filmmaker Jackie Raynal, women are largely seen only in passing, their conversations hovering just outside of Deller’s purview. Elsewhere, discussions turn to semiotics, journalism and feminist theory, while Manhattan artist-housing town-hall meetings and the violent interventions of the US in Latin America form considerable chapters of the film.

As with all of Yvonne Rainer’s features, there are cinematic disruptions throughout – including the director herself popping into the frame with a curious request for the audience – and the cumulative effect is knotty, provocative and vibrant.

“[Rainer] tends toward a type of tumbling process, an unbalancing of power, language, and the body … The Man Who Envied Women exudes a profusion of verbiage that is funny, brave, rude, and benevolent.” – Barbara Kruger, Artforum