The Staggering Girl

A woman (Julianne Moore) receives a call at her home in New York. She must return to Italy to convince her mother to move with her to the US She is a blind artist (Marthe Keller) who lives in a large house assisted by a caretaker (Kyle MacLachlan). The daughter is writing her memoirs, where her mother (the staggering-staggering-girl in the title?) May have a central role.

Luca Guadagnino offers us a sophisticated medium-length film with permanent jumps in its temporality and in its locations, which even overlap, with flashbacks intervened from the present; Valentino's wardrobe, Italian cityscape, and Ryuichi Sakamoto's music reinforce those dreamlike and fragmented qualities (like the title) of the story.

We witness the always difficult moment of resuming the role of daughter in person, in this case in front of a beautiful and talented mother (Mia Goth as a young woman and also Keller today) who became famous and who despite her limitations continues to create. The return to childhood at the same time as the role of an adult overextended by a declining mother. The story of both parades in front of the character of Moore and is headed towards a perhaps epiphanic end.

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.

It's not just the font of the opening credits that winks at Woodyphiles, we also see hints of "Another Woman" in its flashbacks, cold earth tones seen in costumes, settings and cinematography itself. We even hear a woman's confessions through what might be a vent similar to the character of Marianne in Woody's Bergmanesque chamber piece. The director gives a nod to "Autumn Sonata" playing with the mother/daughter relationship. Both Woody and Luca relish in the use of flashbacks where characters peer into their pasts as the are "played out" in front of them. One of Woody's favorite themes makes an appearance in the struggle of the artist and how hat struggle affects those closest to them. A fine homage to two masterful filmmakers (Bergman and Allen) and one might want to add Luca into the pantheon of the (film) giants.

Actress playing daughter looks fairly haggard and at most a couple years younger. This stretches credibility of the scenes together

'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.