IMDb listing
CNS/USCCB (J. Mulderig) review
Los Angeles Times (K. Turan) review
RogerEbert.com (S. Wloszczyna) review
AVClub (A.A. Dowd) review
America-Magazine (E. Blondiao) conversation w. writer/director Greta Gerwig
Lady Bird [2017] (written and directed by Greta Gerwig) is IMHO a fascinating arguably _sincerely Catholic themed_ "coming of age" film that will probably infuriate, at least initially, many/most Catholic viewers. And yet, I do agree that it's a love letter, celebrating fondly Gerwig's (not / never Catholic) years growing-up / attending a Catholic high school in quite mundane "the Midwest of California" Sacramento, CA.
I confess, I've been a fan of Gerwig's acting career since I began my blog from Damsels in Distress [2011] / Lola Versus [2012] to Frances Ha [2013] / Mistress America [2015] / Maggie's Plan [2016], and I've always suspected her to be "a sympathizer." Maybe one day she'll go through RCIA, maybe not. But ever since she played a character in Lola Versus [2012] who was going to write a Doctoral Dissertation on "commas" and "the small _spaces of silence_ that they bring," I've always seen her as a believer in God (more or less admitted by the end of the current film). For that was how the Biblical Prophet Elijah, "in a silent sound", encountered the Almighty and Ever-Living God [TM] on Mount Carmel one random day [1 Kings 19:11-13].
And then Gerwig is actually most brutal / most iconoclastic when confronting the true Idols of contemporary YA American culture: The film's protagonist, Christine aka Lady Bird (played with appropriate teenage, hair partially dyed, eye-rolling disdain by Saoirse Ronan), finds her first sexual experience (yes, girls attending Catholic high school do at times contemplate / even experiment with sex...) to be ... _disappointing_. She then goes to Prom initially with her ex-boyfriend who she had broken-up with because ... essentially "what else is one to do so late in the game?" Then even more iconoclastically, when it becomes clear that her ex-boyfriend and his friends weren't at all interested in going to the Prom anyway, she asks to be dropped-off at the home of her generally _always smiling_, but somewhat "weight challenged" (and hence "never asked") BFF Julie (played wonderfully by Beanie Feldstein). She convinces Julie to "just get on a dress" and together, _as friends_ they go then to the dance (the film was set in 2002).
Yes, Catholic parents should know that there's a scene in the film in which the two, Christine aka "Lady Bird" and her BFF Julie are shown eating communion hosts (_unconsecrated_) as "potato chips" as they randomly "discuss life" in the school's chapel's sacristy after Mass. But when our protagonist finally "gets her wish" and gets the scholarship to go to some NYC liberal arts college, she finds herself ... going to Mass / Church ;-).
Appropriately R-rated (Parents _ought_ to have a say if they want their minors to see the film). Still, I do think that this is a very intelligent film that actually _offers_ teens and college students the opportunity to go to Mass / Church without being seen as "uncool" for doing so.
In the end, Greta Garwig's protagonist discovers that without the Faith that she learned in "boring Sacramento", life even in "exciting NYC" can be ... rather empty.
Honestly what a film!
<< NOTE - Do you like what you've been reading here? If you do then consider giving a small donation to this Blog (sugg. $6 _non-recurring_) _every so often_ to continue/further its operation. To donate just CLICK HERE. Thank you! :-) >>
No comments:
Post a Comment