The Bostonians (1984)

In the Boston of the 1880s, a spinster (Vanessa Redgrave) who is a fervent believer in the emancipation of women movement takes a young girl (Madeleine Potter) under her wing and mentors her into a spokeswoman for the cause. But a chauvinist Southern lawyer (Christopher Reeve) who does not support the feminist movement is determined to take the girl away from her calling and marry her. Based on the 1886 novel by Henry James, the film takes its time in depicting the battle between two determined foes for the girls' very soul. I've not read the James source material but the film does a credible job of not only showing the struggles of the early feminist movement but also in Reeve's character, the very insidious contempt that women were held in by males who felt a woman's place was in the home under their husband's thumb. The central struggle between the spinster and lawyer is severely compromised by the casting of Potter as the object of their affection. She's a decent but average actress but there's nothing compelling about her in anyway (looks, presence) that would explain why two intelligent people would be enthralled by her. Plus Reeve isn't dangerous enough to suggest a wolf in sheep's clothing. At the core of the film is Vanessa Redgrave in what can legitimately be called a great performance. Her bearing, her very fiber, her pain and determination just comes out of her pores. Directed by James Ivory. With Jessica Tandy, Linda Hunt, Nancy Marchand, Wesley Addy and Barbara Bryne and in the film's worst performance, Wallace Shawn who acts as if he learned his lines phonetically.