Virgin

"Virgin" has to be one of the most simple, yet heart wrenching movies I have seen in years. Because of it's low budget, the story and characters really helps the movie flow.

Jessie is a small-town girl, who loves cigarettes and JD, with no religion, and a confused family. When she wakes up after a dance in the middle of the woods with no recollection of sex, Jessie is suddenly convinced she is carrying the child of god. With nobody supporting her, Jessie is forced to try and convince her god fearing town with her visions and instinct.

I cried through the last half hour. It may not have been visually stunning, but the story and characters made up for it. The director really brought up a good question, and makes the viewer ask themselves, "would we have believed Mary now?" I recommend this movie to anyone, religious or not.

Like Charles Laughton's 1955 classic, The Night of the Hunter, VIRGIN is a unique and powerful film that manages to steer a magical course from the disturbing to the luminous. Director Deborah Kampmeier deftly weaves together strands of earthy reality and dreamlike allegory to tell the story of Jesse (in an unforgettable performance by Elizabeth Moss), a 'bad' girl whose personal journey takes her from misfortune and misunderstanding into a kind of mystical transcendence fueled by supernatural courage and intuition. Ably supported by a strong cast that includes Robin Wright Penn and Daphne Rubin-Vega, Moss carries this film. What a fortunate melding of actor and director! With her movie's Gothic, horror-film texture (byproduct of a budget that probably wouldn't even cover Mel Gibson's trailer) and an allegorical, magical-realism theme, Kampmeier tells a story that you won't soon forget. She is a powerful storyteller and a new voice to be reckoned with.

If, as I have heard, this is Kampmeier's first film then I can scarcely wait for the next.

Virgin is a touching movie that shows the path of a rebellious young woman who regains her sense of self worth and inner strength through coping with an extremely traumatic experience. I went to this film thinking the plot was intriguing: a girl who is raped while she's passed out, discovers she's pregnant, and with no memory of the rape-thinking she's still a virgin- assumes it to be immaculate conception. Here's a girl who's no victim, she works a night job delivering papers and even cares for an older woman with an abusive husband. Yet she's no cat woman or uma thurman in kill bill. In short, she's a female lead women can relate to.

This film is worth seeing not only for its dramatic merit; it is also a piece of simplistic yet beautiful imagery. There is an artistry to the scenes filmed in nature that is so rarely seen in low budget films. Birds act for the camera, water flows throughout scenes, and the landscape opens up to reveal the natural world as a picturesque backdrop to highlight the acting. The acting itself is touching and spellbinding. Elisabeth Moss, playing the lead role of Jessie, was well worth watching as she acted simply with great poise but with a turmoil of emotion showing behind her eyes.

See this movie! Lose your virginity! Have something to talk about! -ajn218

This is a deeply disturbing and emotionally taxing film that every young (and old) woman needs to see. It is one of the few films I have ever seen that is ACTUALLY told from the voice and perspective of the female mind. While it is very low-budge, you get used to the style after about 15 minutes or so. If you are a man who wants to know more about the feminine spirit or a woman who has never properly questioned the nature of our lives in a society that actively oppresses female creativity, identity, and strength.... this film will change your life if you have your mind opened to it. Don't expect fulfillment- only expect to be forced to think harder than you probably ever have before by a film.

I was fortunate enough to catch this film with a friend at the East Hampton film festival almost one year ago. "Virgin" is not always an easy film to watch, but it is one that courageously expresses both the despair and hope of adolescence and young adulthood.

"Virgin" did not entertain me, it moved me. Writer/Director Deborah Kampmeier immediately takes her audience into the deep end. She does not stay in safe and shallow waters, but apparently believes that our hearts and minds will expand to take it all in. This belief inspired me to do so.

Ms. Kampmeier's symbolism is unsettling and brilliant. If you are willing to think and feel (and have the heart and courage to do so), you will not be disappointed. Even now, almost one year later, I am still moved and reminded of images in her film that express the human struggle and condition.

As the mother of two teenage daughters (and two adolescent sons), I am grateful for the opportunity to be able to share "VIRGIN" with them. Although the film is too intense for my boys to see at this time, I am relieved to be able to share a film with my daughters that does not focus on the troubled but "very sexy" longed for experiences (of most teenage girls) more evident in a film such as "THIRTEEN", but rather truly addresses the typical teen's need to be seen and loved through a heart wrenchingly honest and believable performance by her main character, Elizabeth Moss.

This film reverberates long after you leave the theatre.