The Group

Sidney Lumet's 1966 American film, adapted from Mary McCarthy's novel, follows eight friends after their graduation from a women's college in 1933. The story runs to the beginning of the war and takes each woman's life as a separate section. What was bold for its time is discussing contraception, sex within marriage and the psychiatric hospital directly; the novel had caused argument for the same reason. It was Candice Bergen's first film, and her character being a lesbian was unusual in Hollywood cinema of the period. The eight lines are not of equal strength and the film is long. Who it's for: viewers interested in American cinema of the sixties and stories built around a group of women. Who it's not for: anyone wanting a short narrative, or troubled by the limits of representation in the period.