“Lady Bird” (2017)
“Lady Bird,” an ultimate coming-of-age film, established director Greta Gerwig as one of the most promising directors of the new generation with her first movie.
“Lady Bird” follows Christine (Saorsie Ronan), a jaded high school senior who names herself “Lady Bird” in an act of rebellion and self-identification. With her dyed pink hair, arm cast and stubborn personality, Christine navigates growing up in (and out of) her confining hometown of Sacramento. While the film covers first love(s), financial struggles and Lady Bird’s dream of attending college on the East Coast, the heart of it lies in the portrayal of Lady Bird’s turbulent relationship with her hardworking mother Marion (Laurie Metcalf). Always at odds with one another, Marion relentlessly criticizes her restless and seemingly ungrateful daughter, while Lady Bird simultaneously rejects, and secretly vies for, her mother’s approval.
The appeal of “Lady Bird” is its normalcy. One gets the feeling that Gerwig has a deep understanding of the way young people interact, turning the stereotype of the lazy, rebellious teenager into one with profound depth, while never forgoing an awkward sense of humor. When watching, the viewer is completely immersed in Lady Bird’s world and can find a piece of her to relate to, for better or for worse.
“The Lost Daughter” (2021)
Based on the Italian novel by Elena Ferrante, “The Lost Daughter” is the directorial debut of actress-turned-director Maggie Gyllenhaal. Leda (Olivia Colman) is a middle-aged English professor who goes on a solo vacation in the Greek Islands, hoping to read, sunbathe and enjoy Greek culture. While on vacation Leda observes the goings-on at her resort, becoming precariously entangled in the life of a young mother, Nina (Dakota Johnson), who is on vacation with her daughter and extended family. As Leda invests herself further into the lives of Nina and her daughter, painful memories begin to resurface of Leda’s own young motherhood, driving her to act on dark impulses and confront her own wrongdoings. The film masterfully switches between the present day in the Greek Islands and flashbacks of a young Leda (portrayed by Jessie Buckley) struggling to further her career in academia, parent two young girls and manage a marriage that is falling apart.
Where the fraught mother-daughter dynamic in “Ladybird” is front and center, the placid scenery and dream-like quality in which “The Lost Daughter” is shot allow the sadness and sacrifice of motherhood to simmer violently below the surface, all coming to a head in an ending that leaves much up to interpretation.
“The Virgin Suicides” (1999)
In sharp contrast from its stills, girls in white dresses with shiny blonde hair bathed in hazy pink light, “The Virgin Suicides” is an alarming look at isolation, objectification and obsession. Based on the book by Jeffrey Eugenides, “The Virgin Suicides,” is also the the first film from Oscar-winning filmmaker Sofia Coppola. The film focuses on the five Lisbon sisters growing up in dreary suburban Michigan to extremely strict and religious parents who restrict them from partaking in typical teenage activities. The tragedies of their young lives are watched and told through the lens of a friend group of neighboring boys, who, even 25 years after their deaths, cannot stop thinking about the ephemeral sisters. A 16-year-old Kirsten Dunst plays the lead role of Lux Lisbon, the most rebellious sister, who breaks her parents’ rules by falling for the school bad-boy, Trip Fontaine (Josh Hartnett).
A female-directed film about women yet told through the male perspective may seem convoluted, but in “The Virgin Suicides,” it is intentional. The Peeping-Tom-like boys’ sole infatuation with the girls’ beauty and innocent nature serves as a reminder of how the world continues to view women as a whole.
“American Honey” (2016)
A sprawling, sun-kissed and sometimes-hard-to-watch road trip epic, “American Honey” is about a destitute 18-year-old girl, Star (Sasha Lane), who abandons her broken home life in Oklahoma and joins a rowdy crew of other lost young people like her, travelling across residential America and scamming people into buying magazines. What initially seemed like a get-rich-quick scheme and an escape soon turns dark when Star gets mixed up with the charismatic leader of the pack, Jake (Shia LaBeouf), much to the disapproval of their manager, Krystal (Riley Keough).
“American Honey,” like the van the crew rides in in the film, never stops moving, and Star’s one-after-another harrowing escapades are the jerky turns. Like “Ladybird,” “American Honey” relies more on acting and small moments than an overarching plot, and it works. The cast of characters feel so natural it is easy to forget that it is scripted, and not candid videos straight out of someone’s camera roll. Director Andrea Arnold displays American youth culture in 2016, and the coming-of-age of one girl, both when carefree and devastating.
5) “Bend It Like Beckham” (2002)
Directed by Gurinder Chadha, “Bend It Like Beckham” is a love letter to early-2000s Indian culture in London and breaking cultural conformity. Jess (Parminder Nagra) is a soccer (specifically David Beckham) enthusiast, but is not allowed to play due to her parents’ traditional ideas about what a woman’s role in society should be. Jess’s life takes a turn when she is scouted scrimmaging in the park by a girl her age, Jules (Kiera Knightley), who plays for a woman’s pre-professional team. While Jess finds success pursuing her soccer dreams (and lying about her whereabouts to her parents), her mother insists on teaching her the ways of a proper Indian housewife. As Jess’s lies get more complicated, so do her relationships with her young coach Joe (Jonathan Rhys Myers) and friend Jules.
“Bend It Like Beckham” brings a catchy soundtrack, all the nostalgia and great breakout performances from its three leads while harboring a familiar message of forging your own identity and breaking stereotypes.
