The Australian film «Girl Asleep» is a fascinating tale (based on a play by Matthew Whittet) that covers that difficult stage in which a woman becomes less and less a pre-adolescent little nymph and more of "wife material", according to traditional canons that throw her into the ring as a potential bride. This phase is closely associated with the 15th birthday, which gives rise to a line of rituals ranging from debutantes' sampling on the social scale to sexual brag, in dances, waltzes and pink dresses. In Cuba, in particular, it is a crazy celebration with gowns, crowns, photos, rides in 1950s convertible Cadillacs and excited mothers who celebrate their horny daughters.
In other cases, such as Greta, the protagonist of this film, the debutante does not want a party, she does not want a boyfriend or girlfriends of the "Heathers" type. Greta (endearing Bethany Whitmore) struggles to stay in her dream world of dolls and music boxes. During the birthday party --which opens with a delirious sequence to the rhythm of "You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)" by Sylvester--, the three "Heathers" arrive to spoil the party by singing about her lack of tits; her friend Elliott, whom his classmates call a "homo", proposes (a very funny performance by Harrison Feldman) and a being from the woods next to her house steals her music box. Greta chases the thing through the woods and enters a world that drastically breaks the tone that the film has held until then, between parody and absurdist comedy. We enter a dark and threatening dimension that Greta has to flee from if she does not want to be devoured by canine entities that we hear but never see clearly. With the help of a young forest Amazon, Greta flees and returns to the party, but before she must go through other rites to come to terms with her family, with Elliott and her 15 years old life.
The associations that have been made to this film directed by Rosemary Myers, are with Wes Anderson's cinema and surrealism. It does have that tone, but also a bit of Susan Seidelman's female fantasies and it strongly reminds me of Neil Jordan's «The Company of Wolves», a film about of Little Red Riding Hood's sexual initiation with the Hunter who is also the Wolf, with the difference that in «Girl Asleep» it is a single story, while in Jordan's movie the story of Little Red Riding Hood is crossed with folk tales about werewolves, nymphs in heat and knowing grandmothers. Myers' movie obviously does not contain the horror sequences that abound in Jordan's, but both films are intelligent and visually ingenious works that equate that moment of social and sexual validation with the stories and characters that filled our childhood's fantasies. Highly recommended.
In other cases, such as Greta, the protagonist of this film, the debutante does not want a party, she does not want a boyfriend or girlfriends of the "Heathers" type. Greta (endearing Bethany Whitmore) struggles to stay in her dream world of dolls and music boxes. During the birthday party --which opens with a delirious sequence to the rhythm of "You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)" by Sylvester--, the three "Heathers" arrive to spoil the party by singing about her lack of tits; her friend Elliott, whom his classmates call a "homo", proposes (a very funny performance by Harrison Feldman) and a being from the woods next to her house steals her music box. Greta chases the thing through the woods and enters a world that drastically breaks the tone that the film has held until then, between parody and absurdist comedy. We enter a dark and threatening dimension that Greta has to flee from if she does not want to be devoured by canine entities that we hear but never see clearly. With the help of a young forest Amazon, Greta flees and returns to the party, but before she must go through other rites to come to terms with her family, with Elliott and her 15 years old life.
The associations that have been made to this film directed by Rosemary Myers, are with Wes Anderson's cinema and surrealism. It does have that tone, but also a bit of Susan Seidelman's female fantasies and it strongly reminds me of Neil Jordan's «The Company of Wolves», a film about of Little Red Riding Hood's sexual initiation with the Hunter who is also the Wolf, with the difference that in «Girl Asleep» it is a single story, while in Jordan's movie the story of Little Red Riding Hood is crossed with folk tales about werewolves, nymphs in heat and knowing grandmothers. Myers' movie obviously does not contain the horror sequences that abound in Jordan's, but both films are intelligent and visually ingenious works that equate that moment of social and sexual validation with the stories and characters that filled our childhood's fantasies. Highly recommended.