1952: Widowed in the Korean war, nurse Claire Donnelly tries to keep up her house which she had acquired in better times. In a society that even excludes people wanting divorce, Claire is horrified to discover that she had become pregnant when she was looking for consolation in the arms of her brother-in-law. Claire is unable to keep the baby, but the law forbids her to have an abortion. Despite her profession she sees no other alternative but to undergo dirty operations in abandoned houses. After attemping to take matters into her own hands, she finds to her relief a doctor, who is willing to make a house-call. But he is only interested in the money, and bothers neither about sterilising his instruments, nor about the bleeding woman he leaves behind...

1974: Barbara Barrow has now moved into the house with her husband. Having already brought four children into the world, and hoping to get back to her studies, she becomes pregnant again. An argument flares up with her politically aware daughter, who sees, along with the arrival of new financial restrictions, her plans for her own education floating away...

1996: The house has now become a shared student accomodation. When Cristina Anez reveals to her boyfriend, a married father in his forties, that she is pregnant, he breaks off the affair, and offers her money for the abortion. Cristina does not want to bring up a child on her own, and toys with the idea of abortion, which has an adverse effect on her friendship with her house-mate Patti. When Cristina makes up her mind and goes to the clinic, she is caught in the crossfire of the militant Pro-life movement. She and Dr. Thompson, who is fighting for women's rights, are taken inside under police protection; and Dr. Thompson has good reason for wearing a bullet-proof vest to work...

• The movie-makers have spared no effort in making sure that their statement is made to greatest effect. The title alone promises tales of woe. And it is no coincidence that this time round, a North American film has no happy ending to offer: the audience is to be driven, full of emotion, to do something. If These Walls Could Talk consists of three parts, none of which ends happily. In the last few decades there have seldom been happy conclusions for women who have unwanted pregnancies, and not just in the USA. Why a film which finally takes the women's side should be described in the press release as taking no sides and leaving it up to the audience to decide may be explained for the same merciless box-office reasons as the poster, which shows the three stars of the film, Demi Moore, Sissy Spacek and Cher, in all their overly cosmetic glamour, staring ahead, expressionless, like cover-girls on a fashion magazine.

Still, the reader should not be discouraged: the cinematic version of the kaleidoscope of argument/counter-argument on the subject of abortion is the most important and impressive contribution to date.

It is not just about foetal vs women's rights, but also about a society in which it is difficult to respect someone who has taken a different decision to the one you would have taken. One day, a worker at the clinic wonders how these people can co-exist, referring to the daily scuffles between the staff and the anti-abortionists camping outside. The next day will demonstrate how quickly hate can bring out the violence under the surface.

If These Walls Could Talk is a rare example of a feministic film in which experienced Hollywood stars take to the screen. In a land where pressure groups campain for the renunciation of sex on TV, but not for the use of contraceptives, where it is forbidden in many places to install condom machines in schools or to inform on the possibility of abortion, films like this are more important than ever.

• In its home country, the USA, If These Walls Could Talk will heat up the controversy of the politics of abortion, which has been cultivated for years. In other Western countries the emotional content of the film will wake up audiences and bring them into the cinemas, if this production by the HBO TV company ever makes it that far.

Filmdata:

Official link: None or not known.