ABSTRACT
In this chapter, we explore the differences in applying double-focus narration in films aimed at educating men and women. We premise the analysis on an understanding of the interwar period as a period of the intensive institutionalization of surveillance over unreliable population groups, including women. We explore two Croatian films, Griješnice/Grešnice Macina i Ankina sudbina (Sinners: Maca's and Anka's destiny, 1930) and Dvije seki: film o njezi dojenčadi (Two sisters: A film about caring for infants, 1932), as framing the issue of abortion and “improper” care for infants through exploiting a double-focus narrative – opposing “right” and “wrong” patterns of female behavior. The Czech film Manželství pod drobnohledem (Marriage under the microscope, 1940) is analyzed as a continuation in implementing the mission of routinizing the institutions that aimed at providing surveillance over reproduction and childrearing, which had been introduced by another film for women, Procitnutí ženy ( Recognizing the woman, 1925).
