Call Jane is a gripping and engrossing dramatization of a pivotal, but largely ignored, chapter in American history. It's Chicago, 1968, when the city and the nation are on the brink of social and political upheaval. Joy (Elizabeth Banks), a suburban housewife, leads a perfectly ordinary life with her husband and daughter. But when pregnancy leads to a life-threatening heart condition, she has to navigate beyond the all-male medical establishment unwilling to terminate her pregnancy in order to save her life.
Her journey for a solution leads her to Virginia (Sigourney Weaver), an independent visionary fiercely committed to women’s health, and Gwen (Wunmi Mosaku), an activist who dreams of a day when all women will have access to abortion, regardless of their ability to pay. Joy is so inspired by their work, she decides to join forces with them, putting every aspect of her life on the line. Inspired by true events, Nagy’s film captures the essence of late-Sixties social change via one woman’s quest to get a safe and legal abortion.
Call Jane was co-written by Hayley Schore and Roshan Sethi, and helmed by Nagy, who, amongst many accolades, received an Oscar nomination, Best Adapted Screenplay, for the 16mm-originated Carol (2015, dir. Todd Haynes, DP Ed Lachman ASC).
DP Greta Zozula went with an ARRIFLEX 416 16mm camera, fitted with Master Prime and Ultra Prime 16mm lenses, in a package supplied by TCS New York. She used KODAK VISION3 250D Color Negative Film 7207 for the film's day exteriors and a small number of day interiors, and harnessed KODAK VISION3 500T Color Negative Film 7219 for low-lit interiors and night scenes. These decisions helped to support distinct contrasts between the three main environments in the story – Joy's world at home, the world of the Janes and the operating room.
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