Ginger & Rosa (2012)
Cast includes: Elle Fanning (Super 8), Alice Englert (Beautiful Creatures), Alessandro Nivola (Coco Before Chanel), Christina Hendricks (Mad Men), Timothy Spall (Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire), Oliver Platt (X-Men: First Class), Annette Bening (The Kids Are All Right), Jodhi May (Defiance)
Writer/Director: Sally Potter (The Man Who Cried, Orlando)
Genre: What… subtitles? (90 minutes)
Hiroshima, 1945... the world first learns of a horrible new weapon. London, 1945... best friends Natalie and Anoushka are both in hospital giving birth. A lot happens in the next 16 years, but we skip to 1962… the daughters of Natalie and Anoushka are best friends forever… even though Ginger has become a Dave Brubeck kind of gal, and Rosa prefers the sound of “The Man I Love.” As with all teenaged girls, they’re eager to explore kissing, smoking, boys and freedom… even if their moms are sick with worry. But Ginger is sick with another kind of worry… the threat of atomic catastrophe. “I think I’m an existentialist,” she tells Rosa. “I’d prefer the world not to end. I think we should do something about it.” “I think we should pray,” says Rosa.
According to “Girls Magazine,” says Rosa, “A bubbly personality is a girl’s most important asset.” Ginger’s obsession with the bomb isn’t doing much for her bubbly personality. Ginger comes by her social activism quite naturally… her dad, who insists on being called “Roland” rather than “Dad,” went to prison during WWII for being a conscientious objector. “You’re a born radical,” he says to Ginger, beaming with pride. Ginger’s mom doesn’t really understand him… “I never seem to know where he is anymore” …and it isn’t just because of the peace rallies. Ginger wonders why her mom doesn’t appreciate what Roland does. When Roland and Natalie separate (again), Ginger decides she’s going to go live with Roland. “I’m not sure I’m dad material,” he warns her. But that’s precisely why she wants to live with him.
At this point in the movie, you might well wonder if you’re ever going to care about any of these characters. The filmmaking style has a deliberate artsy quality that renders characters lacking in emotional connections. But when Ginger moves in with Roland, the narrative takes a different turn. Ginger and Rosa have a chance to spend more time in Roland’s world. As mom suspected, it’s not just about peace rallies. The newness of being in adult situations is quite exciting for the girls, but Ginger and Rosa have very different interests. We, of course, know how attractive an interesting older man can seem to a teenaged girl, but there are many different ways that can play out. The story is set against a backdrop of potential nuclear annihilation, and Ginger feels it’s her calling is to focus on what’s really important… banning the bomb. But is she really a born revolutionary, or is she, alas, just as bourgeois as her mom? Elle Fanning, as Ginger, gives a remarkable performance. The issues in the film are universal and resonate regardless of the era. Writer/Director Sally Potter has attempted to make this film more emotionally accessible than her earlier films, and she’s succeeded… at least with the last half. Ginger is on a mission… “The only life we have is the one we have now. We must seize it.” But as a teenager, it’s not always easy to know what we’re seizing.
3 popped kernels
Teenaged best friends in 1962 tell each other everything… Rosa worries about life… Ginger worries about the bomb
Popcorn Profile
Rated: PG-13
Audience: Grown-ups
Distribution: Art house
Mood: Sober
Tempo: Cruises comfortably
Visual Style: Unvarnished realism
Character Development: Engaging
Language: True to life
