The Wife

Released 2017. Director: Björn Runge

AS THE SAYING GOES, BEHIND EVERY GREAT MAN THERE'S A GREAT WOMAN. Standing behind Joe Castleman, acclaimed novelist who is now the latest recipient of the Nobel Prize for Literature, is his wife Joan, a paragon of devotion and constancy. The couple have been together for over three decades since Joe divorced his first wife to marry Joan, a student in his writing class at university.

Buoyed by the elation of this momentous recognition, Joe, Joan and their son David, an aspiring writer yearning for his dad's approval, head for Stockholm for the ceremony to crown a lifetime's achievement. Onboard the Concorde, they are approached by Nathanial Bone, a biographer who's been hounding the couple to write Joe's memoir. The Castlemans dismiss Nathanial, a serial pest in their eye, for they have no wish to have their life stories published. Nathanial is persistent and while in Stockholm, manages to hint to Joan rather unambiguously that he knows the scandalous secret of Joe's success.

Adapted from the novel of the same name by Meg Wolitzer, The Wife looks at the concept of ownership through the lens of marriage and family. In lengthy flashback scenes to the early days, we see how Joan, an undiscovered gifted writer, is disheartened by the lack of support for women writers. Joe, her professor and writing coach, is a lesser writer by comparison whose work, in Joan's frank assessment, is inferior. After Joan doctors Joe's manuscript, his novel is published to great success. This is followed by much the same process: Joan would ghostwrite novels bearing Joe's name. Never did they expect that one day, the Nobel committee would bestow the world's most prestigious literary prize on the wrong recipient.

As the woman in the shadow of a husband in the spotlight, Joan is a compelling creation from eight-time Academy Award nominee Glenn Close. Joan is a stoic character who has perfected the art of repressing her own creative desires for the benefit of the man she married. She is protective of Joe, until the hidden fracture in their relationship finally cracks. Joan is composed and affable in public whose hint of resentment over Joe's latest accolade is felt only by those with the sharpest instincts.

At the award ceremony, the King of Sweden makes small talk and asks Joan if she has an occupation. Joan answers, “I'm a kingmaker.” The truth is brutal in its unintended iciness. It's a superb moment that tells us the woman who gave up her dreams is awakening to a different dawn.

Jonathan Pryce is the charlatan basking in the glory he believes he deserves. While he concedes the part Joan plays in his success, Joe remains blissfully oblivious to Joan's true feelings, or deliberately unwilling to address them. It is fascinating to compare Pryce as the glib and philandering fraud here with the virtuous and perceptive cardinal who would become Pope Francis two years later in The Two Popes.

The claim of authorship in the story is quite bluntly and rightly in Joan's favour. What is the measure of loyalty between husbands and wives? The movie invites us to think about sacrifice, compromise and truth in the context of marriage. Just as important, the questions of authorship, fulfilment and identity a writer derives from his/her creative output. Joe tells his adoring audiences, "my wife doesn't write," turning a lie into an insult.

Would Joe be a more sympathetic character if he wasn't so narcissistic or a serial adulterer? His behaviour makes the audience leans towards complete support for his wife. And yet is Joan entirely blameless in this deception? The question why Joan continues to ghostwrite for decades when publishing has become kinder to women is not addressed. She is complicit in this literary fraud by not owning up.

While the movie ends with a suggestion that Joan will, literally, turn a new page in her writing career, it remains fully subscribed to the traditional role expected of women to “stand by your man”. Much more than that, women change their name and alter their identity when they become “Mrs.” followed by their husband's name. While the movie undoubtedly shines a light on the imbalance between the spouses, the final takeaway is bound by tradition and societal expectations. Doesn't matter what Joan takes on next on her own stead, her defining role will always remain The Wife.

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