The Ties That Bind
Su Friedrich's experimental documentary looks at both the mother/daughter relationships and the demands of national identity. ‘The Ties That Bind’ explores the rise of Nazism in Germany and attempts to show the effect the war had on her mother's life, while questioning the similarities between the early years of Nazism and America under Reagan.
I made the film in order to present the life of an “ordinary” woman living through extraordinary times – not to make her a hero, but to investigate how fascism and war are formed by and affect daily life…
– Su Friedrich
The film-maker's questions and observations are scratched onto the film itself, creating a silent, powerful voice which leads us in and out of her mother's memories and her own reconciliation with the past.
‘The Ties That Bind’ are not only the supposed benevolences of motherhood, but also the repressive dictates of the fatherland…
– Barbara Kruger
Description source: Circles catalogue (1987). Edited by Jenny Holland and Jane Harris.
