Feisty Women On Film

by Helen Earnshaw | 26 March 2010

Not since the film noirs and melodramas of the forties and fifties have there been so many strong roles for women to play on both the big and small screens.

One only has to pick up a television guide to find a series named after its female protagonist (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) or where the female character is on equal footing with the male lead (The X-Files).

And there has been a recent influx of big screen outings that has shown the cinema-going public that women can play just as hard as the men, in films such as Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and The Devil Wears Prada.

The most recent contender can be found in the latest Oscar winning film from John Lee Handcock, The Blind Side which hits cinemas nationwide 26th March, so to coincide with the release, here we take a look back at some of the greatest feisty female roles in film:

Alien: Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver)

A strong yet vulnerable woman, Warrant Officer Ellen Ripley is, of course, the heroine of Alien. It's only in Aliens, under the watchful eye of Jim Cameron, that Ripley comes to layered life.

Initially a nervous wreck, her life torn apart by the xenomorph, Ripley is reborn as a warrior when her maternal instinct kicks in and prompts her to go through hell to save surrogate daugher, Newt.

Juno (Ellen Page)

Quick-witted and with a tongue like a Stanley knife, Juno is, in her own precocious and pregnant way, a strange, new kind of heroine.

Leon: Mathilda (Natalie Portman)

The coolest kid in movie history. Mathilda is 12 years-old when a corrupt cops kills her family, forcing her to seek solace with hitman neighbour Leon.

But, for most of the movie, this frightened little kid acts like someone twice her age. Sassy and hyper-confident, even in her blossoming sexuality, the Louise Brooks-bobbed Mathilda served notice of an astounding new talent in Portman.

Kill Bill Vol. 1 & 2: The Bride (Uma Thurman)

For a guy who wrote Reservoir Dogs(something about all male cast), Quentin Tarantino has been making up for it since with strong female protagonists - and none stronger than The Bride, aka Beatrix Kiddo, aka a Q&U creation.

The 'U', of course, is Thurman, who has never been better as the single-minded, athletic killing machine, as adept at swinging a sword as she is in suggesting The Bride's inner turmoil.

Fargo: Marge Gunderson (Frances McDormand)

In stark contrast to pretty much every other movie cop ever, Marge is just about the nicest police officer you're ever likely to meet.

But don't be fooled - she's no small town rube, nor does she let being in the final stages of pregnancy stop her from solving an extortion/kidnapping case with a few grisly murderers. she's a perfect creation - with the screenwriting and acting Oscars to prove it.

Star Wars Episode IV-VI: Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher)

Star Wars isn't just a boys' toy - not as long as Princess Leia Organa is around, that is. Not for her the simpering squeaks of a damsel in distress - Leia is opinionated, gutsy and as defiant in the face of authority as her father.

Commendably, she never became mere eye candy in the series: even in the bikini she kicks ass, and by the end of Jedi, she's the one wearing the trousers in her relationship with Han.

The Blindside: Leigh Ann Tuohy (Sandra Bullock)

It is difficult to imagine anything that could long impede or contain the force of nature that is Leigh Anne Tuohy, the feisty Memphis belle played by Bullock with equal measures of acerbic sass, steel-willed brass and unabashed sentiment.

Gone With The Wind: Scarlett O’Hara (Vivien Leigh)

British stage actress Vivien Leigh rocketed to Hollywood stardom as the spoiled, wilful, well-nigh irresistible Scarlett.

Her journey from capricious princess to wisdom and clarity is what makes that epic running time bearable, and the sparks she strikes with Rhett are probably what started the famous Atlanta fire.

The Silence Of The Lambs: Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster)

Hannibal Lecter may be the flashier role, but getting the right Starling proved to be an even more crucial piece of the equation; the sequel, Hannibal, is testament to that.

Clarice is an exceptionally bright rookie who's way out of her depth and with demons in her past, but though sheer determination and her strange relationship with Lecter, she fights, and eventually overcomes, her fears.

Erin Brocovich (Julia Roberts)

Erin Brockovich is an unemployed single mother, desperate to find a job. With her steely determination and no nonsense demeanour, Julia Roberts characters digs deeply enough to instigate the biggest class action lawsuits in American history against a multi-billion dollar corporation.