[Tia Lessin and Emma Pildes expansive and emotional documentary
about the Jane Collective sheds necessary light on a very recent
history. ]
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PORTSIDE CULTURE

‘THE JANES’ REVIEW: AN INTIMATE AND INFORMATIVE LOOK BACK AT A
RADICAL UNDERGROUND ABORTION GROUP  
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Kate Erbland
January 22, 2022
IndieWire
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_ Tia Lessin and Emma Pildes' expansive and emotional documentary
about the Jane Collective sheds necessary light on a very recent
history. _

'The Janes', HBO

 

_EDITOR’S NOTE: THIS REVIEW WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED AT THE 2022
CANNES FILM FESTIVAL. THE FILM WILL DEBUT ON HBO ON WEDNESDAY, JUNE
8 AND WILL THEN BE AVAILABLE TO STREAM ON HBO MAX._

“I had no other options. I wanted it over with. And I didn’t care
how it was done, I was that desperate.” Such is how Tia Lessin and
Emma Pildes’s intimate and informative “The Janes
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audiences immediately to one woman, now decades removed from the
period of her life in which she needed the help of the underground
abortion service and feminist collective, who can still conjure the
same emotions and circumstances that drove her to her choice. And yet
what might be most inspiring and special about Lessin and Pildes’
documentary is that this single woman who opens the film doesn’t
serve as some sort of stand-in for the thousands (yes, _thousands_)
who utilized the services of the Jane Collective (or just “Jane”)
during 1969 through 1973, but simply one facet of a story long
deserving to be told.

Funnily enough, “The Janes” is not the only Jane-centric film to
arrive this year (it’s not even the only Jane-centric film to arrive
at this year’s Sundance
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makes her directorial debut with the fictionalized feature “Call
Jane”). The present, it seems, is finally catching up with the past
— albeit in some terrifying ways — and renewed interest in the
work and legacy of Jane is inevitable and necessary. Lessin and
Pildes’ film ably weaves together the group’s history, stories
about the many people (not just women) who made it what it was, and
the fascinating process by which it operated. At once deeply personal
and painfully political, “The Janes” should be required watching
for everyone. Notably, it knows that and leans into it.

Despite the fraught nature of its content, Lessin (an Oscar nominee
for her “Trouble the Water”) and Pildes (making her directorial
debut) keep an even keel throughout, introducing a variety of talking
heads — from Jane members and compatriots to one of the cops who
busted them during their infamous 1972 raid — and keeping a tight
hold on contextualizing the world that birthed Jane. And yet the blend
of voices and history never feel like homework, and “The Janes”
stays digestible and compelling throughout most of its 101-minute
running time (which only ever feels off when it get to the end, and a
gobsmacking legal battle that could easily spawn its own documentary).

Context is necessary: In the late ’60s, abortion was mostly illegal
around the country, and many women were suffering because of it. And
not just emotionally, mentally, and economically; as one Jane member
puts it early on, many women were willing to do “awful things” to
abort their pregnancies, and the threat of grievous physical injury
hangs over the majority of the film. Illegal abortions were possible
and, in the politically fractured Chicago in which Jane made its
stand, were mostly available through the mafia. As many of the
subjects of the film explain, that was cold comfort for many.

So what to do? Many of the women who appear in the film share their
stories of, if not _radicalization_, at least _awareness, _in plain
terms. They needed an abortion and went to the mob, who left them
bleeding out in a dirty hotel room. Their friend’s sister died
trying to get an abortion. A girl in their dorm came crying to them
late at night to help staunch the bleeding from their procedure. As
“The Janes” reminds us, in the fraught milieu of ’60s Chicago,
the political felt very, very personal indeed, and women often knew
that best.

Inspired by a changing world and their desire to help change it, the
original members of Jane banded together to form a group that could
assist any and all women in need of help, regardless of if they could
pay for it. (A mid-film segment that grapples with the racial
implications of the group, which was mostly made up of white women, is
fascinating and well-considered.) Their process was smart, savvy, and
entirely dedicated to providing a safe space for their clients.

The details still jar, including moments in which members show off the
index cards they used to make notes about prospective clients who
called up Jane (the group was found through word of mouth, doctor
recommendations, and ads and flyers placed around town, advising women
in need of help to “call Jane”), some of which list upsetting
details like that the woman was “(scared)” or felt need to “be
cautious father is a cop.” A list of doctors and abortionists
includes similarly important notes, even tough ones, like “has hurt
some girls.” And there are moments that shock, no matter which side
of the abortion debate you fall on, like when the doc gets to the
pivotal moment in which various Jane members learned how to do
abortions on their own and demonstrate technique with their own tools.

And yet Lessin, Pildes, and their many subjects eschew cheap emotion
in favor of something much more intimate and, ultimately, more honest.
Many of the talking heads still grapple with their choices, even an
entire century later, but remain edified by the understanding that
they accomplished Jane’s goal: to help women who needed it. Many of
the stories and subjects that round out the film could easily spawn
their own documentaries and series (just wait until you meet the
group’s lawyer late in the film), but “The Janes” stands as a
compelling look at their work that should educate and enthrall curious
audiences.

Grade: B+

_“The Janes” premiered at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival. HBO
Documentary Films will release it on June 8._

* Film
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* Film Review
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* abortion
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* Undercover Abortion
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* Before Roe
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