Das Mädchen

In 50 yrs. of films, I think this is the first film I've ever seen that gives the viewer such in-depth experience watching the day to day life of a 10 yr. old girl. The extraordinary Ponette has a four yr old subject and hones in on one other overriding topic- death- as understood by the 4 yr. old.

But The Girl has no focus on any one subject other than its heroine; it documents her day to day life as she, through accident(others') and intention(hers), is left at home to fend for herself during a significant stretch of her 10th summer. While resourceful and independent,this thin pale redhead is also emotionally walled off from the world. She watches, and you watch her watch.Her wanderings around her rural small town Swedish environs- teach her both the negative 'lessons' of cruel peers and weak adults, and the joys possible with kind strangers and simple friends. While not a children's film, it would be excellent for family viewing and discussion.

Very cool movie. "The Girl" (2009) should be required viewing for all film and video production students. Each shot is a creative tapestry of composition, light, and shadow. Fredrick Edfeldt's acting-for-the camera direction is inspired and Blanca Engstrom gives the perfect nuanced and underplayed performance needed to match the pace and tone of his film.

But the real star of this remarkable film is Swiss cinematographer Hoyte Van Hoytema, who has since been the Director of Photography for "Interstellar" (2014). The film is worth a second watch just to appreciate each carefully composed shot. I've never seen anyone do it better, even breaking the 180 rule several times in the service of underscoring the girl's increasingly disoriented drift from reality.

It is not an entirely original story. There are many of the creepy elements from "Tideland" (2005) and some from "The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane" (1976), but "The Girl" is much more naturalistic and gentle than those two films. It could also be considered a placid "Alice In Wonderland", subtly off-kilter with Louis Carroll's illogic replaced by the mundane but equally disturbing logic of the modern adult world.

Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.

Days before a family leaves for a long stay in Africa they receive a call from the organisation they are staying with telling them their youngest child is too young to come. When they find an aunt willing to take care of her they decide to leave anyway and so the child is left with her aunt. The aunt has plans of her own and less feeling for responsibility than she should have though and so the kid is quickly left alone. And with that starts a tale of a 9 year old girl living on a farm, having to deal with life on her own for summer.

Starting from this baseline it can't be surprising that things are going to be difficult. What follows is her tale, her coming to age too quickly and her intense loneliness. It is filmed in a slow way with many long shots and a handful of light moments to make sure it doesn't become a tearjerker altogether. The film rolls on with a steady pace and is completely carried by the appearance of the little girl who despite of her age manages to be the character she is supposed to be. It's not like the adult actors are doing badly, it's just that she is doing better, or at least far better than what might expect from a kid.

All in all, an amazing and depressing piece of film which can only make one want to beat some common sense into some people - in this case the aunt of the child.

Amazingly good stuff, 8 out of 10 kids damaged