Day 236: December 22nd, 2010
An American Crime
I wouldn't have taken that.
I watched this based on the recommendation of a co-worker, who said it was difficult to watch and horrible to think about. An American Crime is about the first reported case of child abuse and still to this day remains as one of the most horribly cases about child abuse.
It's one thing to watch a movie about someone beating up a kid, it's another to have that movie be based on true facts. An American Crime is not only based on true facts, it doesn't even show you all the atrocities that happened. Take that as a pro or con, but An American Crime, as decides to play it a little safe and downplay a lot of what happened to this poor little girl. That's not to say that the film still isn't hard to watch, it is.
To give you a little bit more story here, Ellen Page plays the lead girl, Sylvia Likens and Catherine Keener plays the abusive adult, Gertrude Baniszewski. Likens and her sister are given to Gertrude to watch while their parents go on a carnival tour to make some money. The parents don't know Gertrude, they only met her through church. It seem that Gertrude takes a lot of her frustration with life (being poor, loser boyfriend, lots of kids, health/mental issues) out on Sylvia. There is one moment in the film where I thought that it took artistic liberties and played it up, but upon some research discovered that everything was true.
The neighbourhood kids and Gertrudes own children go to see Sylvia, who has been locked up in the basement by this time. They decide to put cigarettes out on her, hose her down in water, humiliate her and physically beat the crap out of her. Why? Because their mother said it was okay and the other kids I guess succumbed to peer pressure. Sylvia is at her all time low when Gertrude then decides to carve the words "I'm a prostitute and proud of it" in her stomach. Terrible indeed.
The performances are great, Keener gives a subtle performance for such a horrible character. I felt sorry for her at times, don't know if I should have. Maybe if the character was played by Beth Grant I would feel different, because she usually plays characters that get under my skin. Page literally starved herself to go through similar situations like Sylvia. Not her best performance, as most of the time she's just sitting there taking abuse, but worthy enough.
The film goes back and forth between the court case and testimonies of people, to the events that eventually lead to Sylvia's death. I did not know about the case beforehand and figured that she had died from the way they were presenting the film. Then we are given a scene in which she escapes and makes it home safe and sound, only to discover that it's some kind of out of body experience and her real lifeless body lies on the kitchen floor.
I'd recommend this film to those who want to learn about the case, as reading about it might be too difficult.
An American Crime
I wouldn't have taken that.
I watched this based on the recommendation of a co-worker, who said it was difficult to watch and horrible to think about. An American Crime is about the first reported case of child abuse and still to this day remains as one of the most horribly cases about child abuse.
It's one thing to watch a movie about someone beating up a kid, it's another to have that movie be based on true facts. An American Crime is not only based on true facts, it doesn't even show you all the atrocities that happened. Take that as a pro or con, but An American Crime, as decides to play it a little safe and downplay a lot of what happened to this poor little girl. That's not to say that the film still isn't hard to watch, it is.
To give you a little bit more story here, Ellen Page plays the lead girl, Sylvia Likens and Catherine Keener plays the abusive adult, Gertrude Baniszewski. Likens and her sister are given to Gertrude to watch while their parents go on a carnival tour to make some money. The parents don't know Gertrude, they only met her through church. It seem that Gertrude takes a lot of her frustration with life (being poor, loser boyfriend, lots of kids, health/mental issues) out on Sylvia. There is one moment in the film where I thought that it took artistic liberties and played it up, but upon some research discovered that everything was true.
The neighbourhood kids and Gertrudes own children go to see Sylvia, who has been locked up in the basement by this time. They decide to put cigarettes out on her, hose her down in water, humiliate her and physically beat the crap out of her. Why? Because their mother said it was okay and the other kids I guess succumbed to peer pressure. Sylvia is at her all time low when Gertrude then decides to carve the words "I'm a prostitute and proud of it" in her stomach. Terrible indeed.
The performances are great, Keener gives a subtle performance for such a horrible character. I felt sorry for her at times, don't know if I should have. Maybe if the character was played by Beth Grant I would feel different, because she usually plays characters that get under my skin. Page literally starved herself to go through similar situations like Sylvia. Not her best performance, as most of the time she's just sitting there taking abuse, but worthy enough.
The film goes back and forth between the court case and testimonies of people, to the events that eventually lead to Sylvia's death. I did not know about the case beforehand and figured that she had died from the way they were presenting the film. Then we are given a scene in which she escapes and makes it home safe and sound, only to discover that it's some kind of out of body experience and her real lifeless body lies on the kitchen floor.
I'd recommend this film to those who want to learn about the case, as reading about it might be too difficult.
__________________
"A laugh can be a very powerful thing. Why, sometimes in life, it's the only weapon we have."
Suspect's Reviews
"A laugh can be a very powerful thing. Why, sometimes in life, it's the only weapon we have."
Suspect's Reviews