Thank you HBO Signature Channel. I was cruising through the cable guide (as I occasionally do, looking for old favorites, cool stuff I missed or intriguing new movies/shows) when I saw this description, “Latina teens Yolanda and Mari enter into a romance that’s threatened by external factors as a crucial turning point in both their lives.” So I DVR’d it of course.
It is so much sweeter than it’s description. “Romance” would be exaggerating the relationship they have. It’s a slippery slope friendship where the one “good” girl has a crush, and quietly pursues a friendship with a harder edged lonely girl who moves in across the street. This story felt so familiar to me, the writer/director Aurora Guerrero got it so “right” to me. Feelings are not really expressed, and there is only the barest of a touch towards the end of the film but all the ache of first love is there. The desire to help, to be important to the other person, to have a secret life separate from your parents. It’s a sweet story and the actresses do a great job handling the subtlety and restraint the roles call for. I loved it. It is just a beautiful film. Just beautiful. I’m so sorry I have to delete it off my DVR… http://www.mosquitaymari.com/the-crew/
0 Comments
There are not enough films about little girls of color – black girls, Asian girls, Latina girls, Native American girls. And while there are more about little white girls, too many are about their victimization. Sometimes our world is so messed up and I could dwell on it, and sometimes I do, and sometimes I will but not today. Today, it’s about courage.
When I first read about “Beasts of the Southern Wild”, I was excited about it. It was made by fellow grads of my alma mater, Wesleyan University and it was made in an organic fashion, using improvisation and non-actors from the area in Louisiana where they were filming. Here’s the link to a great article in Film Comment – http://www.filmcomment.com/article/beasts-of-the-southern-wild-behn-zeitlin You can learn a lot about how the film was made and the filmmaker’s methods there. When I first saw “Beasts” it was in a movie theater, which, because I have small kids and never leave the house, was a big deal. And better yet, my filmmaker friend Jason just happened to be in town so we caught it together. Jason has two girls under ten, as do I, so had many lenses through which to view the film. 2014 Update - Saw Frozen with my kids - you guessed it, parents were killed off early.
I’m jumping back into film study with an eye towards what has been going on in films about girls and women since I’ve gotten distracted by having children. That was about 9 years ago. Now my children are all in full-time elementary school and I feel a bit out of touch. But I decided to begin in my comfort zone – animation, mostly Disney and Pixar (now the same thing), and I have become painfully aware of a device used to tell many, many stories. I will call it, “Killing off the Mom”. So, I’m sitting here, near my collection of movies (don’t judge me but we had a Disney Movie membership) and here are my findings: Bambi – mom is shot by hunter Dumbo – mom is taken away by bad circus men Up – wife died Brave – overbearing mom turns into a bear (get it?), but reconcile at end Shrek (s) – Not in first one but in sequels, Mom lives and is nice, not Shrek’s mom, but Fiona’s Oliver and Company – about orphaned animals so no moms Happy Feet – Mom lives and is nice! |
AuthorI'm a teacher of video production but a student of film. And now that I'm a parent, I'm a careful critic of all things media. It's a weird position to be in but I view most things through many lenses. Professor and parent, filmmaker and movie fan. ArchivesCategories |