Maren is a textile factory worker from a poor single mother household in 1930s Copenhagen. She is headstrong, extroverted, and late to work sometimes, but she is one of the best workers in the factory. She enjoys having fun, going out at night, dancing, jazz, drinking, and sex. In other words, Maren is a normal person. However, certain people don't like her attitude and the morality police are called. Maren treats them as a big joke until she is restrained, drugged, and hauled off to an island asylum. "We help girls like you get their lives in order," they say, but help or not, orderly or unruly, no one seems to be getting off the island. Maren attempts to inspire the other women to dream, escape, and to make something of their lives.
Unruly is based on the sensational true stories of real women who were denied the right to determine what they could do with their own bodies. Hmm, the story seems familiar, but I can't quite place it?! Unruly fires on all cylinders; acting, direction, story, costumes, editing, casting, sound, etc. . . In Denmark from 1923 to 1961, like elsewhere in the world and even today, women were abused, blamed for the abuse, placed in mental institutions, sterilized, separated from their families and children, and more. I wish the morality police around the world would learn their lessons by now that attempting to control people does much more harm than good, but here we are. This film will help raise awareness and inspire people, especially women, to dream and take control of their lives.
