A Madeline de Madeline

'MADELINE'S MADELINE': Three and a Half Stars (Out of Five)

An experimental indie drama about a teenage girl with severe mental issues, who begins bringing her personal drama into her theater performance. It was directed and co-written by Josephine Decker, and it stars newcomer Helena Howard. The film also costars Molly Parker and Miranda July, and it's gotten mostly positive reviews from critics. I really enjoyed it's bizarreness, and it's sensitive depiction of mental illness, but it's also really slow-paced and somewhat hard to follow (because it's so strange). The performances are all more than decent though, and the directing is more than adequate as well.

I had no idea what to expect from this, but it turned out to be such a visceral, well-done atmospheric and experimental film.

I watched the whole film, but I have absolutely no idea what it was about. It is intolerable, indecipherable and incoherent. There's no plot. Avoid at all cost.

//Revelation Film Festival Review//

Arthouse films are often labelled with different adjectives that can split audiences. What some might label as pretentious, others might consider as a masterpiece. Madeleine's Madeleine oscillates between both sentiments but through its sheer force of its own conviction proves to be a startling achievement.

The story follows Madeleine (an excellent debut from Helena Howard), a young performer recovering from a recent mental breakdown. As her personal life starts taking on a central role in a play she is rehearsing, Madeleine's grip on reality becomes increasingly tenuous. The lingering question is: is it art imitating reality or the other way around? Madeleine's Madeleine is an unconventional take on mental illness, but what part of mental illness is conventional?

Movies about mental illness are a dime a dozen, and it's hard to find one that has a take on the subject that hasn't already been done, but "Madeline's Madeline" comes pretty close. It's a very experimental film in some ways and one that will likely frustrate some viewers. I will admit to finding my patience tested at times, but overall I will say that the movie rewards sticking with it until its ambiguous end.

Madeline is a young woman whose acting talent either encourages her illness or gives her an outlet for it, depending on your perspective. Certainly her mom, played by Miranda July, is suspect of Madeline's troupe of acting friends and especially her acting teacher, but whether this suspicion arises from a mother's natural instinct for managing her daughter's fragile mental state or the threat that her control over her daughter might be jeopardized is not made entirely clear. Perhaps it's a bit of both? Certainly she has some reason to be concerned, because Madeline's teacher has no qualms about exploiting her illness for what it brings to the vague theater project she's working on. I've always only half-jokingly believed that the very best artists the world has produced are always a little bit crazy, and "Madeline's Madeline" seems to suggest that the fine line between sanity and artistic brilliance is a fuzzy one.

The chaotic film making, with its abrupt cuts, jumpy camera, and disorienting whirls and spins can be read as a visual representation of Madeline's disassociated mental state, but I wished the director would have calmed down a bit.

Grade: B