So O got sick and this ends my crazy blogging spree. I also deliberately postponed all those backlogged films because I had this incredible urge to write about the Berlinale – and I am genuinely hoping that I will finish blogging for this year before March starts, which is another month bringing much excitement and stress, with O’s birthday and a trip to S’pore coming up. But there is much to do: More trips to plan, many many e-mails to write and a mess of a room to clean up.
This is day 3 of the Berlinale already, because on day 2 I lost my student ID which also had my ticket for public transportation. I called 6451 and was unable to make it to Ototo. Afterwards we spent 4 hours at the opera seeing “Tannhäuser” so technically there also was no day 2 of the Berlinale. Instead, day 3 was relatively busy. It is interesting to note that, while 6451 managed to see 5 films per day twice, I never watched more than 3 films on one day except for the last day when I re-watched “Paris, Texas”. Since I do not plan to reblog “Paris, Texas” (my old review was actually not so bad), I technically also will never blog about more than 3 films per day, but this is where Pixelmatsch will come in with his films, hoho.
Speaking of Pixelmatsch, he actually did see a film on day 2. I was “Koza” which he recommended so I ended up seeing it by myself later on.
The Diary of a Teenage Girl
USA 2014, Marielle Heller, 102′
Living in 1970s San Francisco, Minnie’s mother is Kristen Wiig with an alternative, laissez-faire, drug- and smoke-filled life who is divorced from some stuck-up lawyer (I think?) and dates a younger (30ish?) dude, Monroe, played by Alexander Skarsgard. Minnie hits it off with Monroe at age 15 and gradually falls in love with him, so melodrama and a lot of sex scenes ensue. At the same time, she struggles with discovering her sexuality, her general boredom with life and the world and her aspirations to become a comic artist.
Who would not have a crush on Alexander Skarsgard? He is styled to look like a wimp in this film, but boy how good-looking is he? Nevertheless, I applaud him for his willingness to play such an asshole. “The Diary of a Teenage Girl” is one of the few films I am expecting to come out in theaters later, but I still wanted to see it. I was strangely intrigued by the story, and the Generation films only cost 4 euros so that is another reason for me to see it. I am glad I did because 6451 also liked the film.
To be honest, I actually really liked the sex scenes, especially the one with Minnie’s younger boyfriend, just to how much of a failure he is. I could relate to his statement that she is a very passionate person to the point of being creepy, and Minnie is generally very relatable to me. I complained to 6451 that her character is ultimately an asshole too, especially when she decides to dump Monroe the very moment he shows her his vulnerability and confesses his love, but he rightfully commented that it may be morally wrong but ultimately it’s very human and realistic. In that regard, the whole movie is amazingly done for its realism.
Needless to say, I really like the graphic novel inserts and Minnie’s art which I thought looked absolutely awesome and not all that disturbing at all.
Nevertheless, you won’t find “Diary” very high up in my rankings. The characters were far from being likable, the plot was strangely generic even though it tries to show the complicatedness of feelings, there just was something juvenile about the whole film and not necessarily in a good way. (Did the mom really have to find her diary? That part was just so so cheap.) I can’t even really explain it, but to me the film lacked depth, both in its story and its execution.
By the way, I really liked Minnie’s actress. She is exactly the right kind of ugly for the role, her huge, cow-like eyes and the pursed lips are just awesome. I loved watching her and I wonder if she will become more popular as an actress from here on.