← Back to Reviews
in
This old-fashioned, turn-of-the-century movie reminded me in many ways
of Anne of Green Gables (the 1970's Megan Follows PBS version, at least; I haven't seen any others). I usually like period piece, sappy love story type bullcrap, though this one was a slightly different experience than your typical period piece drama. As soon as I finished watching it, I looked it up and found out it's based on a novel which was written by a young girl in the early 1900's, and apparently, it was something she wrote "for fun" just for her friends. That explains a lot, I thought.
I'll admit that I had a hard time taking this movie seriously; however, that isn't exactly an insult, because to my mind's eye it was intentionally done tongue-in-cheek.
It's like this: The year is 1890-something, and you're a young woman. For what you don't have in grace and beauty, you more than make up for with a high-spirited, rambunctious personality. You come from a poor family; nearing 30, you are mostly seen as a burden to your parents, who are just itching to ship you off to be governess to another man's family, where you'll at least be of some service. But you're a dreamer. You can't stand the thought of being tied down to monotony, especially the typical feminine duties of a woman from the 1890's. You want to make it big someday, maybe have a career in one of the arts, such as painting or writing or music.
This is how the story opens up; we see a young girl playing her piano with a faraway look on her face; her hair is unruly to match her temper. In the background her mother calls for her to help bring the laundry in (or some other such womanly chore) and she willfully ignores her.
This opening scenes sets up the rest of the movie, basically. You watch this young woman (Sybylla Melvyn) trot around, willfully dismissing every turn of advice she is given, with a hard determination to "stand out". Judy Davis's performance as Sybylla was easily the most brilliant thing about this movie. I felt that all the other performances were intentionally muted to bring out her character even more, and the contrast was really great. I love how contrary she was, even to herself. She wanted so badly to stand out and do something non-traditional, but over the course of the movie you begin to realize how badly she really wants to fit in. In one particular scene, she sits in a tight ball on her bed, crying, and when her cousin asks her what is the matter, she says she hates that she's not pretty enough for anyone. To me, this was the most important scene in the entire film, because you finally get some insight on what this girl is going through. She wants to stand out because she can't fit in. That, to me, is a brilliant move, and I'd lie if I didn't admit that I do the same thing in many ways.
I guess you could say that the main reason I liked this movie, if I was forced to pinpoint it, was that I can relate to the character immensely; relate and respect, that is.
Also, it's really entertaining to watch her waltz around and be absolutely ridiculous for an hour and 39 minutes.
OH, also! There's this one scene that distracts you from all the dialogue due to this funky thing the horse keeps doing with its mouth, and well... oh heavens, I'll just post a screen shot-
i was like, "tee-hee-hee-hee!" all throughout this part.
Anyway.
golden out of 10, better known as
My Brilliant Career
1979, Gillian Armstrong
1979, Gillian Armstrong
This old-fashioned, turn-of-the-century movie reminded me in many ways
|
I'll admit that I had a hard time taking this movie seriously; however, that isn't exactly an insult, because to my mind's eye it was intentionally done tongue-in-cheek.
It's like this: The year is 1890-something, and you're a young woman. For what you don't have in grace and beauty, you more than make up for with a high-spirited, rambunctious personality. You come from a poor family; nearing 30, you are mostly seen as a burden to your parents, who are just itching to ship you off to be governess to another man's family, where you'll at least be of some service. But you're a dreamer. You can't stand the thought of being tied down to monotony, especially the typical feminine duties of a woman from the 1890's. You want to make it big someday, maybe have a career in one of the arts, such as painting or writing or music.
This is how the story opens up; we see a young girl playing her piano with a faraway look on her face; her hair is unruly to match her temper. In the background her mother calls for her to help bring the laundry in (or some other such womanly chore) and she willfully ignores her.
This opening scenes sets up the rest of the movie, basically. You watch this young woman (Sybylla Melvyn) trot around, willfully dismissing every turn of advice she is given, with a hard determination to "stand out". Judy Davis's performance as Sybylla was easily the most brilliant thing about this movie. I felt that all the other performances were intentionally muted to bring out her character even more, and the contrast was really great. I love how contrary she was, even to herself. She wanted so badly to stand out and do something non-traditional, but over the course of the movie you begin to realize how badly she really wants to fit in. In one particular scene, she sits in a tight ball on her bed, crying, and when her cousin asks her what is the matter, she says she hates that she's not pretty enough for anyone. To me, this was the most important scene in the entire film, because you finally get some insight on what this girl is going through. She wants to stand out because she can't fit in. That, to me, is a brilliant move, and I'd lie if I didn't admit that I do the same thing in many ways.
I guess you could say that the main reason I liked this movie, if I was forced to pinpoint it, was that I can relate to the character immensely; relate and respect, that is.
Also, it's really entertaining to watch her waltz around and be absolutely ridiculous for an hour and 39 minutes.
OH, also! There's this one scene that distracts you from all the dialogue due to this funky thing the horse keeps doing with its mouth, and well... oh heavens, I'll just post a screen shot-i was like, "tee-hee-hee-hee!" all throughout this part.
Anyway.
golden out of 10, better known as