''Battered'' is a 1989

documentary film A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

directed by

Academy Award The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...

winner

Lee Grant Lee Grant (born Lyova Haskell Rosenthal; October 31, during the mid-1920s) is an American actress, documentarian, and director. In a career spanning over seven decades, she won an Academy Award, two Primetime Emmy Awards, and a Directors Guil ...

. The film is an investigation of domestic violence in American homes. Originally aired on

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...

, the film is notable for its level headed look at abusers as well as victims.

Development

''Battered'' was produced under Grant and husband/producer Joseph Feury's production deal with

. Grant felt that domestic violence was an issue that would be deeply felt by all women, victims or not. Filming took place across the United States and over many months.

Reception

The film received positive reviews. The LA Times stated "a tendency to go heavy on statistics somewhat mars an otherwise excellent show. Often raw and blunt, "Battered" is not pretty TV. But it does make its points and is a strong addition to the swelling chorus calling for reform of an unresponsive system."

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remarked that "Lee Grant has always been one heck of an actress; Battered confirms that she is one heck of a filmmaker too."

Legacy

The film is part of Grant's documentary collection and is expected to receive a digital and limited repertory cinema re-release in the Winter of 2019-2020 along with the majority of her non-fiction work. It has become a frequent teaching tool in university criminology courses. In 2017 Grant co-directed a short

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video with Taylor A. Purdee entitled ''Battered: The Assault on Hillary Clinton.'' Grant felt that the short video was a continuation on the theme of "battering," through the lens of

Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, lawyer and diplomat. She was the 67th United States secretary of state in the administration of Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, a U.S. senator represent ...

's mistreatment at the hands of male political opponents over the course of the 2016 presidential election. Pieces of this short were shown at the inaugural Split Screens TV Festival where Grant was receiving a lifetime achievement award .

References

{{Lee Grant 1989 documentary films 1989 films American documentary films Films directed by Lee Grant HBO Films films 1980s English-language films 1980s American films English-language documentary films