Dual occupancy: Melbourne and the feminist drama of dwelling in monkey grip

Abstract

Monkey Grip is viewed as a film that evokes the sexual politics of feminism and of city life, and can thus be seen as both a feminist film and a 'Melbourne film', a convergence that emerges in other films made and set in Melbourne, including Love and Other Catastrophes. The city appears as a centre of dwelling and habitation, with attention drawn to the spectacle of the interiors of the residences, in which much of the action occurs, and with reflection on the conditions and values of production. Bachelard's notion of the house image is applied to distinguish the performances of gender from those in films in non-urban settings.