Women and children; Frederick Wiseman's 'Domestic Violence.'

In Frederick Wiseman's new documentary, "Domestic Violence," which is set largely at a shelter for battered women in Tampa, Florida, some of the women are sullen and abashed and so quiet that they seem to have relinquished the right to be indignant over what has happened to them. But others are blazingly articulate, their stories leaping from them in magnificent tirades. There is one woman in particular whom no one who sees this film will ever forget -- a powerhouse, forty years old, with strong hands, glittering dark eyes, and a small mouth that contracts with rage. She is sitting in a group session, sharing stories with other women, and, among many other things, she ...