I want to see people on screen I can relate to, they don't have to be female but it helps. I believe it's rare to find well written female characters so when I watch a film with a woman in it that enthrals me I have a tendency to watch it again and again. Ripley in Alien was written for a male actor and I think its lack of cliché 'girl talk' makes Ripley one of the most believable female characters in film. Ok, so I don’t relate to killing aliens but you get the idea. It feels like a lot of female characters are fulfilling gender stereotypes so it's hard to see a person on screen through all the nonsense. Cameron Diaz in The Mask is very different from Cameron Diaz in The Last Supper. Watch them and you'll see. I'm not following the Bechdel test for my film enjoyment; I'm just looking forward to films that aren't Transformers.
Be it the Diane Freeling in Poltergeist saving her family from a self-destructing house or Welcome to the Dollhouse’s Dawn Weiner enduring the trial of junior high. I love a character that's up against it. Just as Ghost World struck a cord when I was in 6th Form figuring out what I was supposed to do with my entire life Frances Ha has smacked me round the head with a frying pan now, in my late Twenties, as I figure out how I am supposed to live my entire life. Ok very late twenties. I am holding on with the skin of my teeth here. While the character Frances Ha is 27, I at that age was facing the same gruelling trials and tribulations of the impending end of your twenties. You really don't appreciate a film with a female protagonist in it until one hits you in a face with something you truly relate to.
The situation is all to true of this generation. I graduated the year the recession hit, so you find yourself scrapping for internships that related to your desired career and moving home with your folks. It's like those dreams when you're running towards a well lit room on the opposite side of the hall but the corridor keep getting longer and longer the faster you run. The lack of money and lack or relationship compared to your peers becomes more and more of an issue as your thirties bite at your ankles. I think they broke they skin that time... This film sees Frances battling most of the above whilst avoiding bad relationship choices, and trying to enjoy life. I tip my hat to her on both counts - I found those two a lot harder. As her and her best friend reel out the aims of their intertwined lives finishing with "SO many honorary degrees!" I couldn't help but chuckle and my own greedy desire for the same utterly pointless accolades.
The situation is all to true of this generation. I graduated the year the recession hit, so you find yourself scrapping for internships that related to your desired career and moving home with your folks. It's like those dreams when you're running towards a well lit room on the opposite side of the hall but the corridor keep getting longer and longer the faster you run. The lack of money and lack or relationship compared to your peers becomes more and more of an issue as your thirties bite at your ankles. I think they broke they skin that time... This film sees Frances battling most of the above whilst avoiding bad relationship choices, and trying to enjoy life. I tip my hat to her on both counts - I found those two a lot harder. As her and her best friend reel out the aims of their intertwined lives finishing with "SO many honorary degrees!" I couldn't help but chuckle and my own greedy desire for the same utterly pointless accolades.
| I first saw actor Greta Gerwig in Greenberg. It's a hit and miss indie film with some great lines. She's amazing as Florence, while the romantic thread of the film doesn't hold up, her reality and reactions do. My soft spot for Florence almost made me wish in this film, with the same director, I'd be watching Florence Ha. Saying that, it wasn't long until I was laughing at but mainly with Frances. She answers sarcastic remarks back sincerely and says inappropriate but truthful things. I don't think it matters who you are, you'd somehow have an affinity with this character. | Frances and best friend Sophie's relationship is cosy and familiar but as you well know bubbles burst and the bathtub water gets cold |
The start of the film is like being lowered gently into a warm bath. Frances and best friend Sophie's relationship is cosy and familiar but as you well know bubbles burst and the bathtub water gets cold. It's nice to see the different aspects of their friendship; its intimacy, pet hates and contradictions. Different personalities and choices present themselves throughout the film and that's what makes it so enjoyable to watch. Dinner party discussions, lazy Sundays and two many vodkas are all part of the mix that are as unpretentious as the lead. The posters would lead you to believe this is all arty and indulgent but actually it's more honest than that. It does have one utterly endearing scene. With a tracking shot that coupled with one of my favourite tracks lifted my spirits so much I didn't only see Frances's happiness and freedom I felt. Her drunken idea of love was my only sober encounter of that elusive state.
It’s the meandering nature of Frances's journey backed with its considered intent that makes it so true to life. The charm of the character being she works with the obstacles. It didn't take a film to make me realise that’s how to deal with things, it's just nice to watch a story you wholeheartedly relate to. It's a film that shows you a whole person not just the idea of a woman. It also gave me the great satisfaction of finishing exactly where I want to be in my life in both senses of the word. If I can laugh about it I'm half way there. Ha.
Squeamish Nicola
It’s the meandering nature of Frances's journey backed with its considered intent that makes it so true to life. The charm of the character being she works with the obstacles. It didn't take a film to make me realise that’s how to deal with things, it's just nice to watch a story you wholeheartedly relate to. It's a film that shows you a whole person not just the idea of a woman. It also gave me the great satisfaction of finishing exactly where I want to be in my life in both senses of the word. If I can laugh about it I'm half way there. Ha.
Squeamish Nicola
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