There's long been a misconception that action films are a masculine domain. But female strength and agility have been showcased on the big screen since the silent era. When you think about action films, the default response is probably to think about men.
The bulging musculature of Sly Stallone in Cobra (1986) or Arnold Schwarzenegger in vaguely goofy but endlessly entertaining films like Commando (1985) might come to mind; so too might the balletic, graceful fight choreography of Bruce Lee or the hulking ferocity of a Jason Statham. Equally, the behind-the-scenes role of the stunt person, although stars of all gender require them, has been associated in the popular imagination with masculinity: think wrecked Aston Martins on a multi-million budget James Bond set, legendary western stuntman Yakima Canutt climbing under a wildly careening horse-led stagecoach, or testosterone-soaked shoot 'em ups like John Wick , directed by former stuntman Chad Stahelski. However this is far from the whole story.
In the British Film Institute's current blockbuster national film season Art of Action , celebrating the history of action cinema from its earliest days onward, you might catch any number of roundhouse-kicking tough guys. But as season curator Timon Singh tells the BBC: "I think there is this misconception that 'action films' are mostly for men, but female action stars and stunt performers have been there since the beginning of cinema." And Art of Action has set out to prove it.
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