Georgy Girl

I watched this movie mostly for Lynn Redgrave, expecting nothing more than an old, light-hearted British comedy. It was better than I expected; "Georgy Girl" is a lovely, bittersweet dramedy clearly inspired by American screwball comedies of the 30's and the French New Wave that was burning in the 60's (to see how much the Nouvelle Vague aesthetics influenced British cinema, check the also remarkable "Two for the Road", with Albert Finney and Audrey Hepburn).

Redgrave, fantastic as usual, plays Georgy, a scatter-brained working-class virgin with a golden heart. She shares a flat with a selfish, cold bitch (Charlotte Rampling), who gets pregnant of Jos (Alan Bates), and the three of them eventually move together; but things get complicated as Georgy is courted by Jos and James (James Mason), a much older man, at the same time.

Bates (is it just me, or does he look like Jean-Paul Belmondo - one of the greatest Nouvelle Vague icons because of Godard's "Breathless" - in this?), Rampling and Mason are all great in their respective parts, but this is Redgrave's show all the way. Her anti-heroine is sweet and memorable, somewhat similar to Toni Collette's Muriel Heslop (from "Muriel's Wedding"), some sort of a British, less patient and clumsier Amélie Poulain (Audrey Tautou). Georgy singing "Whole Lotta Woman" is a classic scene. Lynn's performance alone would make this movie worth seeing, but she's not the only good thing about it, just the core. 10/10.

Good performances from Redgrave, Mason, Rampling and Bates. A modest film that found international approval. In 1966, while it may have seemed shocking to hear UK girl Charlotte Rampling tell Alan Bates that she had "destroyed" two of his already, it's worth remembering that an American girl couldn't have a legal abortion unless there were extenuating circumstances. Roe v. Wade was still several years away. The wholesome longings of Goergie are sharply contrasted with her roommate, the ice cold Meredith. The lead was originally offered to Vanessa Redgrave and when she backed out her younger sister Lynne was cast. She was overwhelmingly brave playing Georgie as a girl you liked enough that when she does something embarrassing you can't help but flinch. It happens a lot. As she falls and fails she finds a life of her own. And that is oddly inspirational.

Georgina Parkin is a little bit naive, and she wears innocent heart, front and back, and on her sleeve, she's intelligent and bright, quite self-conscious of her plight, not particularly forthright, don't deserve what she receives; has a father plus a father figure who, at 49 (looks a lot older if you ask me) wants 22, to attend to, all the things his wife's unable, to spread out upon the table, let him consume and deplume the ingénue. Now Georgy shares a flat with Meredith, she has a fella name of Jos she spends time with, although it's reasonable to say, she likes to vary where she plays, a promiscuous, and wild type of miss. But it's quite tricky when you fancy your mates lover, that is, until he plays his cards and you discover, that there could just be a maybe, even though girlfriend's with a baby, in a complicated tale, someone will suffer.

An of its time story that doesn't age quite as well as some 60s dramas, although the performances are great and from some rather talented actors who went on to much greater things.

Overall, I recommend this flick. I particularly liked the character of Georgy ...the way she tries to cover up any vulnerability with wit/ spunk..she MAKES the movie. But I can't help be bummed at the ending. Rationally, I approve of the ending, but find it disappointing at the same time..... It was more sensible,plausible and had more integrity than if they'd kept Georgy & Jos together...but...but... James Mason creeped me out through the whole movie (I mean, he watched her grow up..the old lecher!) and Alan Bates was soo ADORABLE (yes, he was selfish & immature too, I KNOW. He had potential for change??Maybe??) I supposed I'm just biased, Alan Bates (Alan Bates of the late '60s & '70s that is)being up there on my list of unconventional crushes.

Georgy Girl is an amazing film that's was in the front of a new wave of more realistic, unblinking films by the Brits. The film doesn't flinch when depicting or talking about accidental pregnancy, abortion, mothers not interested in their babies. They're just a part of life, nothing to moralize about or to spotlight as big drama. Imagine any film from the U.S. in the mid 1960s taking on these issues at all, much less in the matter-of-fact way that Georgy Girl does. Georgy Girl and Darling strike me as two mid-60's British films that herald a new age--greater reality; women's freedom to choose partners and to define their romantic and sexual connections in their own way. Another very modern aspect of the film is the absence of any person taking the moral high ground; every character is on their own, and depicted irreverently, with warts, but also warmly.