The Staggering Girl

This enigmatic little memory piece may be only 37 minutes long but it still typifies the worst kind of art-house. A superb cast, (Julianne Moore, Marthe Keller, Kyle MacLachlan, KiKi Layne), mooch about in the past and in the present but none of them manage to engage us on any level other than the banal. The director is Luca Guadagnino and this must rank as nothing more than a doodle on his CV, the kind of film that established film-makers with too much power and money, but perhaps limited imagination, make simply because they can. If, like me, you admire the director's other work it's best you give this one a miss.

Great film for those who are not afraid of images doing more storytelling than the script itself. The Kyle MacLachlan character does bring to mind a Twin Peaks atmosphere and Ryuichi Sakamoto's music is just sublime to top it all off.

The Staggering Girl (2019) is a short film from Luca Guadagnino and it is fine at best.

Positives for The Staggering Girl (2019): Similar to his other world, this short film is shot and directed expertly by Luca Guadagnino. The performances from the cast are great. This movie's story is very simple and it gets to the point perfectly fine. And finally, there are some very stylish shot in the movie's finale.

Negatives for The Staggering Girl (2019): Despite the interesting story, I wasn't really invested in the shirt film and it is only 37 minutes long. This is also a short film that is good for a one time watch.

Overall, The Staggering Girl (2019) is a fine little project for Luca Guadagnino and while it didn't fully work out for me, I would still recommend this short film.

'The Staggering Girl' brings together a group of creative geniuses. Directed by Luca Guadagnino, a filmmaker whose work can both satisfy lovers of art house and popular films, the film stars in the lead roles Julianne Moore, Marthe Keller, KiKi Layne and Kyle MacLachlan, impeccably dressed in Valentino garments, with a film score by the legendary Ryuichi Sakamoto.

In short, the film is about an Italian-American writer working on her autobiography and rethinking her life, who has to move back to Rome to take care of her mother. The structure of the film is complex, with a thin line between reality, flashbacks and fantasies.

Instead of occupying yourself with a minute understanding of the film's plot, I would rather advise the viewer to sit back for 35 minutes and enjoy the extreme visual refinement, in (among others) the camera work, dresses, and the picturesque Italian landscape, in combination with the spellbinding soundtrack. The last scene left me with a sheer feeling of joy and fulfilment.

User reviews are to harsh. The movie is beautiful and amusing even though its script isn't as good as its cinematography.