Punk and fashion, Sid and Nancy, beer and vomiting - all this is in this film, but the tape is not about English anarchists from the 70s. Aliens and space, progress and society, mystery and eternity - each of these things is also present in the picture, but this is not a space opera. Kissing and talking, love and parties, a guy and a girl - yes, this is also enough, but it can hardly be called a teenage melodrama. Okay. What is it about?
Before you start talking about the meaning, plot and other ephemeral things, you need to decide on one very important detail. "How to Talk to Girls at Parties" is an author's film that borders heavily on arthouse. And the directorial methods here are appropriate. At the same time, most of the tape is still kept within the cinematic canon, in the sense that the camera work, the production of the frame and the editing are represented by standard, proven methods, like the same “eight”. But that's where the obvious experiments were done, it's in thin post. The task of the director, John Cameron Mitchell, who, by the way, often works in non-standard projects, was to visualize and audiolyize not only the most distant, advanced alien race, but also its unique worldview. Essentially, Mitchell was trying to recreate our perception of human society. And just the same thin post helped him in this difficult task. The most incredible costumes and scenery stand in stark contrast to the gray life of the middle class in the suburbs of London, while slightly echoing the polarity of the provocative style of punk. Although I note that the “unlikeness” of aliens sometimes still seems overly pompous and screaming. But who exactly wants to shake hands, so it is the sound operator who created the very cosmic sound, expressed in the melody and intonation of the parallel world. Well, good old punk audio-trash will also please real fans of dirty sound. Some images, such as the dreams of the protagonist, look interesting, but a little naive. Close-ups removed from hands quite successfully create a feeling of illusory slumber, only transitions to these episodes look more childish. In general, the visual tape clearly deserves attention, but at the same time, it can also calmly alienate an unprepared viewer.
The acting game pleases its naturalness. Alex Sharp's character, insecure but sincere young man named Anne, feels alive. Joy, lust, annoyance and sadness look very natural on the face of a young punk. His co-star, Elle Fanning, also did a great job playing the alien Zan. Her genuine curiosity and innocence, combined with Anne’s indecision, create a sweet duet of two hearts lost in the universe. The rest of the caste, which, for a moment, includes Nicole Kidman, also does not cause questions and harmoniously fits into what is happening.
But the plot is just the opposite - it consists of only questions. And the main one. What's the point? But it is not the poverty of ideas, for there are so many parallel lines and images that it is impossible to understand where the authors aimed. On the surface lies the love story of two people who have been rejected by their society. They do not accept the established foundations, because of which they find themselves together outside the framework left to themselves. A little deeper lay the social problems associated with overconsumption, the need for change and internal revolution. And even deeper buried questions of fathers and children, stigmatization and self-finding. All this heap of interesting dilemmas and reasoning as if just piled into a pile, because not everything will be given at least some answer, and some questions the solution is a naive children's fairy tale from the category "to be different - it's normal, this is your strength!". It is a shame, because, for example, the problems of society raised in the film, I was very interested and would like to hear the full opinion of the authors on this issue, expressed in the creative sketch. It seems that the tape tried to be everything, everywhere and at once. It doesn't (almost) happen. And the original story, written by Neil Gaiman, looks fascinating, creating an unusual entourage. In my opinion, the film adaptation of such a bold idea should have been more holistic. Gaiman’s stories often successfully combine originality and accessible language, flirting with both philosophy and pop culture. For example, the famous novel “American Gods”. In general, it may be because of my limitations, but there is a strong feeling that the film lacked structure.
It’s not like “How to Talk to Girls at Parties” is a bad movie. No, it is clearly better than the average picture of modernity, the essence of which is often just to beat the box office. But so much room for improvement is literally puzzling. Plus, a very non-standard visualization of cinema images in itself can confuse the inexperienced viewer. At least I learned to talk to girls... I think...
A love story spiced with punk but actually set in a fantasy world, not ours. Watching How to Talk to Girls at Parties is seriously impossible, as there is too much frivolity in this unusual and very interesting film.
England, 1977, punk rock party, music, dance, real breakaway and a sense of freedom. A completely unusual beginning for a love story like Romeo and Juliet. Then there is the party, the aliens, and then the viewer just stop trying to explain everything and remember that this is a fantastic story by Neil Gaiman. And Neil, as we remember, has nothing ordinary in this film.
The director, John Cameron Mitchell, was able to convey a great, vivid and very close picture. The drama that unfolds between Zan and Anne, the main characters of the film, is at the same time incredibly close and very unusual. All these phrases, kisses, recognizing each other, dancing, meetings, concerts, they seem to us so close, as if each viewer is transferred to 1977 and a little becomes his punk-rock party. This is what the director was able to convey, for which I thank him very much.
The heroine of Zen, played by El Fanning, is not so much an alien as an ordinary, girl with whom you can really fall in love. The actress managed to show herself perfectly from a new side in this film and be so incredibly human that we have not seen her. Anne, aka Alex Sharp, shows us what it's like to be not the most stylish, the best and interesting, but ready to move mountains and do anything for love. It is also like a native to every viewer who does not really succeed in life. Nicole Kidman as a punk diva is both a woman you admire and a loving mother you trust. It is very harmonious in this way.
The music in the movie itself is great. Songs, tracks and musical accompaniment very well convey the mood of the frame. Editing and shooting, scenes and angles immerse us in the lives of the heroes very deeply and close. The feeling that when watching you yourself experience an incredible feeling of this first sincere love, the desire to live, feel, punk.
The actors did a great job, the director immersed us in the past, the music sometimes helps to feel a couple of hours somewhere else. This is a great combination for a simple love movie. Well, about love with aliens, which is also quite interesting.
8 out of 10
“How to Talk to Girls at Parties” is a brief insight into the story of the fictional relationship between punks from a suburb of London and an alien colony. It's a metaphor for first love, told through the interaction of two unfamiliar beings learning each other's civilizations through a transcendental experience between the re-awareness of punk rock and hypnotic experiments. The whole narrative is accompanied by strange bodily practices that create an additional plane of surreal communication during the semi-real past of England in 1977.
God save the queen and GIRL POWER, latex suits and leather jackets, protest and the fullest disclosure of the PANK concept. Zan’s character El Fanning will leave the solar system in two days, but her youthful nature demands rebellion. It’s time to get acquainted with the shy but enterprising punk Anne (short for Henry). He sells tomatoes grown from feces and pastes his own stickers. She commits violations of all prohibitions in relation to the human race and even performs on the stage of a semi-legal club, where Bodice performed by Nicole Kidman releases Freshmen on the stage, but all her life remains misunderstood and unloved.
This is a story about how to love and let go, because sooner or later everything will return, as well as a colony of alien beings.
“Talk to the girl. Save the world. – Under such a very eloquent and strange slogan on the screens came the picture of the British director John Cameron Mitchell “How to talk to girls at parties”. This film is a very free adaptation of one of the stories of Neil Gaiman, but despite a very striking discrepancy with the original source, the overall atmosphere and message laid by the author are conveyed quite accurately, albeit wrapped in a very strange shell. Don’t think that I don’t have synonyms for the word “strange”, which I write for the third sentence in a row, I specifically want to emphasize it, because, I think, this adjective most accurately characterizes this film. Involuntarily begs the question "Why"? Let's start in order.
Plot. The main character named Anne (Alex Sharp), like almost all British teenagers of the seventies - punk. In life, he is a rather modest guy, but deep down he suffers from his complexes. Because of self-doubt, he is a constant subject of albeit harmless, but very sharp ridicule from his friends, and just fellow subculture. The only thing he sees as an outlet is punk parties with their ear-beating music, an atmosphere of frank madness and some extracurricular camaraderie that he so lacks in real life. In search of another such party, he and his friends find themselves in a rich mansion, where men and women in very catchy latex costumes dance to previously unheard of music and conduct incomprehensible rituals. Meeting a new one is fascinating, and, having decided that they were at the gathering of the American sect, the punks decide to stay. Here the main character meets with Zen (El Faning), with this girl of unearthly beauty and almost complete ignorance of life. He falls in love with her at first sight, and she, in turn, sees him as an escape from an orderly, boring life. What's the oddity? It’s just a teenage movie, you might say. Not exactly. After all, those freaky guys from the mansion turn out to be aliens, divided into several colonies, almost devoid of individuality, and preparing for the end of a certain life cycle. Zen is one of them, but decides to escape, hoping to gain freedom and experience on earth. Leaving the colony is impossible, which means Anne and Zen will have to fight for the right to be together, and just be themselves.
If in the description the plot of the film sounds not entirely surprising, then its implementation on the screen simply introduces the viewer into some kind of trance. Episodes with aliens look like the ravings of a madman, as something on the verge of surrealism and the pure water of Dadaism. At first, I really want to twist my finger at my temple, but then this madness really introduces a person into a certain stupor that in this insanely exaggerated image of space people you can, strangely enough, see something from our modern culture. The more familiar world of punks, in which you plunge with your head, is shown no less crazy. Constant drive, concerts, where everyone screams until they lose their voice, this crazy style of clothing, and images in general turn ordinary people, mostly schoolchildren, also into a kind of association of aliens, only already adapted to the conservative surrounding world, but has not yet lost the rebellious notes that more than splash out at their gatherings. Despite the clash of interests caused by the escape of the local Romeo and Juliet, these two different cultures, unlike Montague and Capulet, do not reach the point of bloodshed, and soon notice that they are in many ways similar. Both are rebels, a kind of concentration of future energy, something new and frightening, but in its own way, fascinating. The two cultures are acutely aware of the need for change and unite like a virus, trying to infect each other with their ideas and a society mired in blind adherence to the rules. Both want to change their worlds by correcting the mistakes of past generations.
Their ideas, of course, are naive and, for the most part, idealized, but they carry the right message. The phrase “evolution or death” is often used in the film, which prompts both cultures to make plans for subsequent changes in their environment. And this escape of two lovers, who found each other against all expectation, is a kind of push, forcing both aliens and punks to reconsider their views on the relationship and make this kind of evolutionary leap, moving the species away from extinction.
Of course, this film is also a celebration of youth, with its impulsive decisions, desperate unwillingness to take on the burden of responsibility and new responsibilities. Punks here are the epitome of teenage rebellion, rejection of as yet unclear family values and expression of personal freedom. They are rebels and dreamers, blindly hoping to change the world. Their closed culture has a real charm, but sooner or later it is destined to perish, and these revolutionaries will somehow have to take a place in the system. While they are young, cares have not yet fallen on their shoulders, and this blind naivety is beautiful in its own way - it is a pity that it is not eternal. At the beginning of the film, when the characters enjoy their freedom and each other's company, the song "Planned adolescence'" is played by the cult punk band the dischords. Under it, the heroes seem to delay the moment of growing up, ride bikes, fall in love. Ahead they have an evolutionary leap called "adulthood," but they have a "now." And the rest doesn't matter.
A special charm to the picture adds absolute old schoolness. In addition to the incredibly accurate and atmospheric image of the subculture, the gray world is shown here as if through rose-colored glasses that even the usual sleeping areas of the city appear in a different light. And the impulses of youth are perfectly conveyed through the ragged work of the camera, interesting angles and stylization under the clips of performers of that time. Well, it complements all this music, full of emotions and breathtaking.
“How to Talk to Girls at Parties” is a unique movie that will be remembered for a long time. It is definitely not for everyone, and many will probably see in it only nonsense, written clearly not sober. But for me, it’s really a movie that’s full of different themes and symbols that you can dig into indefinitely.
I watched a movie called How to Talk to Girls at Parties. It was directed by John Cameron Mitchell, who is an actor. I usually find a movie that I like and then review the director’s entire filmography. It seems to me that if a person with one of his films could hook me, then we clearly have something in common and need to find out what else he shot. And I have my favorite movie, Shortbus, which I've watched five times, and each time with excitement and a dying heart. It’s about a swinger club, usually referred to in the context of movies where the bed scenes were filmed live, meaning the actors actually had sex. It's about the swing club, and there's really a lot of sex. But it's also about friendship, finding yourself and family. This film influenced my perception of sex, relationships, and even my perception of cinema. And it didn't even occur to me to see who took it. When I think about it, I begin to doubt my ability to be interested in film. I also love the movie Hedwig and the Angry Inch. Which is just a very fun but serious musical about a trans person. And it was filmed, too, by John Cameron Mitchell. And I found out recently, although I love movies for a long time. And so I finally, after making an amazing conclusion in my depth, decided to see what else he was shooting. How to Talk to Girls at Parties. And fell in love. It's like the Submarine and Scott Pilgrim against all of them. The trailer will tell you everything. I’ll just add that the film is incredibly moving, but also lively: it’s a lot of punk, it’s very dynamic and emotional. And of course, it's amazingly visually rich.
I think we should start with the fact that 'How to talk to girls at parties' is not a film adaptation, although it is based on the story of Neil Gaiman (whose name for fans is an important factor of attraction).
This film is most likely a slightly sad, but bright memory of someone’s youth (for the most part, the memory of the director or screenwriter than the main character), very pleasant, filled with romance, love (romantized fantastic), and punk music (every youth is a riot, but each expresses it in his own way).
London in 1977, the anniversary of the Queen's reign. Such temporal accuracy is not accidental, it was not in the story, which again indicates a kind of nostalgic memories, something like: ' I will tell you a story, my granddaughter. It was the year our Queen was...', etc. That is, the picture from the very beginning is given a touch of extremely personal memories and experiences.
So, three high school students who think of themselves as punks and diligently rubbing with these underground circles, learn that somewhere is going to be a cool party, and mistakenly get on a very strange evening to very strange people (like true Brits, strange people are immediately classified as Americans). They are actually aliens.
Next - the rebellion of youth against the laws of terrestrial and extraterrestrial, love-carrot and ... music.
By the way, the inhabitants of other galaxies, their dress, manners, and rules established in their circle, painfully reminded me of Polish science fiction films of the 80s. But that's just the word.
... And in the morning they woke up... That is, when all the fantastic adventures were over (and they would have ended sooner or later), the guys put on their uniforms and went to school. It seems to me that there is a certain symbolism in this ... rebellion of youth, extravaganza, the transition to adulthood to a new stage of life.
There’s a lot of symbolic and nostalgic about the film, but some things aren’t fully explained – take it as it is. I rarely find fault, but something needs to be explained.
Also, I don’t want to talk about actors, even though I have to. I don’t want to praise or scold anyone. Let me tell you briefly, everything is in its place. Why?
It's just that this is a very touching and very personal story of someone's youth, and in this context, the story was more important to me than those who brought it to the audience.
Movies are just real. The title does not cover the subject at all. And the theme is this: somehow aliens came to England 70 years and mixed up with punked teenagers ... no ... at all some nonsense.
It's better like this: one boy fell in love with a strange girl at a party ... no ... it's banal ...
Perhaps it is better this way: when one entity feels a craving for the unknown, and another entity tries to know the unknown with the help of the forbidden, then the result can be something beautiful and tragic, which is not surprising, since our essences belong to different variations of the Universe. Ugh. What do they even smoke in England?
I like it. For some reason reminded of the old movie Colin Cerro & #39; Beautiful Green', although in fact no place.
There are places where we are welcomed and treated as poisonous weeds or diseases that must be immediately isolated and eradicated. But where does the infection end and art begin?
To watch fantasy drama 'How to talk to girls at parties' I was pushed by two things. The first driving force was the participation of Nicole Kidman, who is already over fifty, and she looks stunning, as, indeed, she plays in movies. Although in the last decade, the actress alternates good projects with frankly failed, but still honor and praise, because she is committed not only to the mainstream, making a name-brand from the seed, allowing major film studios to enrich themselves only by inviting the actress, but also participates in low-budget cinema, looking for a completely different type (by the way, ' How to talk to girls at parties' serves as direct proof of this). And the second driving force that inspired me to watch was the name of Neil Gaiman in the column ' Screenwriters'. This science-fiction writer became a readable author for me even after his debut book 'The Backdoor' which, apparently, will forever remain in my memory, so I can quite attribute it to the status of my favorite works.
The plot ' How to talk to girls at parties' is built around three bosom high school friends who completely relate themselves to the British punk movement. Once they show up for a chaotic punk party, where everything is controlled by Boadice (Nicole Kidman in all its glory, and the name is taken from a historical figure, a woman who led the uprising against Rome in the first century AD). But the guys there were not needed, leaving unsalted breadbread. Suddenly, during a night walk, they hear strange music oozing from behind the doors of a mansion. They knock on these very doors and are opened by an attractive lady who let them into the house. Here, the guys have an aesthetic shock, because everything is like some kind of fetish or BDSM party: people are either half-naked or locked in latex, their dances are like the movements of a lazy snake, and some equilibristic sketches occur. But all this fascinates them, one - music, another - the search for something new, and the third beautiful girl named Zan. But he has yet to learn that Zan is a representative of the alien race, which lives according to its terrible laws.
It seems that a film with such a plot is something not quite standard, and therefore intriguing. And when it is also based on the work of Neil Gaiman himself, then curiosity prevails over skepticism about whether such a movie will work or whether it will turn out to be another delusional farce of an overrated cinematographer. Unfortunately, in my subjective view, it was the second. I really wanted the picture ' How to talk to girls at parties' was at least as bad as ' Stardust' - another adaptation of the work of Neil Gaiman, but expectations were not destined to come true. Director John Cameron Mitchell clearly wanted to give the picture something amazing and decided to transform it into a fashionable aesthetic demonstration (as, say, director Tom Ford in the film & #39; Under the cover of night'); but it turned out, as I said above, a fetish party with intoxicating music, as if all the air is permeated with marijuana. Yes, and the love line was not uncommonly weak, somehow little faith in love at first sight of an earthling punk and an alien with a model appearance. The only entertainment in 'How to talk to girls at parties' was the appearance of the eccentric heroine Nicole Kidman.
And if, as you understand, Kidman fully satisfied her wishes with her acting reincarnation, then the others could not please. The role of punk in love was played by Alex Sharp. And he did not convince that, firstly, he was a representative of the subculture of punks, and secondly, very little faith in his love. But in the latter case, it may not be the fault of Alex Sharp, and his partner on the set El Fanning. Of course, maybe she did the right thing, guessing her image in some charmed, but still open girl - an alien after all, but, first of all, she was very charmed, and to such an extent that it was not possible to consider the emotions on her cute face. So what could love be like here? And, secondly, in some places her heroine was too open, uninhibited and conversations turned out vulgar with a color of unpretentiousness. Elle Fanning certainly failed to balance her character, so she twitched from one extreme to the other. Although her punk song may be someone's taste.
In general, fantasy drama 'How to talk to girls at parties' I didn't like it, despite its unconventional approach and non-banal plot. Perhaps, such things require a more thorough and detailed approach, so that each nuance was worked out and clearly presented to the viewer, and then there was some confusion of everything that can be done and this, so to speak, cocktail was not tasty. But I do not dare anyone from watching, maybe you will see something for yourself in 'How to talk to girls at parties', which I personally did not see.
5 out of 10
How to talk to girls at parties is so original that I just don’t know where to start writing this review. Let’s dot it all and the movie won’t tell you how to talk to girls. This film fell into my hands quite by accident, but according to a pretty good review of a friend, I started watching even without bothering to read anything about it (so as not to spoil the impression, so to speak). A significant contribution to my choice of viewing this creation was also the actress El Fanning, I consider her performance one of the best in the young generation of Hollywood.
By the title, I reasoned reasonably that the picture represents a teenage comedy-melodrama (for example, the film Tijony), which is now stamped very much. What was my surprise when the plot of the film after 15 minutes rolled somewhere in the steppe, which I saw on the screen not only for the first time (but did not expect to see it here). It is very strange to understand that everything shown has long been seen in other films, and the whole situation is a collection of just a little bit from everywhere. The story really works infinitely well, it is impossible not to penetrate the play of actors, the dramatic component is simply magnificent.
On the other hand, there were a lot of moments where I sat down and said, 'What's going on?'. And it's also a kind of new experience. In our age, when almost everything is shown on the screen, and the film can not convey new sensations, please feel free to watch '. Even somehow it seemed possible to draw parallels with the film Neon Demon with the same El Fanning. True, I did not master that arthouse, and I got into this.
It’s hard to say a good movie or a bad one, I don’t recommend it. Look for yourself, someone will come in, and someone will disown when the first strange moment comes. In any case, the originality of this film does not occupy. Directing is good, camera work is not too good, actors are good, the production is generally cheap, but interesting.
7 out of 10
Speaking of Mitchell's film, 'How to Talk to Girls at Parties' it's very difficult to find the right words to describe what's going on. Everything is so obscene and unusual that you start to get lost. I’m not a fan of books, so I haven’t read Neil Gaiman’s story.
Let's move on to the movie. Immediately from the very first minutes we are met by a composition from the British rock band The Damned and it is at this moment that we plunge into the 70s of London, when punk culture ruled the streets. And in this movie, it's shown just fine. You know, even a person who does not like rock and all this movement will find something of his own in this film, because the crazy atmosphere that this film recreates will not leave anyone indifferent, that is for sure.
Well, if the plot, then before us an unusual story of love and great friendship. The first is a trio of close friends Anne, Vic and John, who have been studying and friends together for quite a long time. Throughout the film, they don’t give up and help each other, and they also want to become a popular rock band. And secondly, in parallel, we have a beautiful love story of Anne and an extraterrestrial girl Zan, played by El Fanning. Here it is, a story of strong friendship and incredible love in one key.
And now, above all this, put just a chic musical accompaniment, the playlist of which I still listen to. These are rock and melodic electronics and just extraterrestrial sounds, which are like from space. The soundtrack of this film just hits the top ten.
On the technical side of the film, there is nothing to add. This is a pleasant work of the operator and a chic design of light, without which this atmosphere of space and punk would not have been built, and it is also necessary to note the special style of Mitchell, which clearly fit into this picture.
The only big drawback I personally found for myself in this film is its emptiness. It seems that we have the incredible beauty of Mitchell’s work, but the film is not filled with any life. This movie is cold, it's alive inside, but dead outside.
As a result, we have a stunning picture with a great message of friendship, love and peace. Plus, there's excellent technical work, and of course, the soundtrack. Unfortunately, the film does not reach its maximum. But even if you take it, this movie deserves to be seen.
7 out of 10
First of all, I wanted to start this review with the context of the author’s film.
In contrast to pop-cultural cinema, there is an author’s film that can develop in absolutely any direction, experiment and create, regardless of the template dictated by Hollywood producers. But here's the trouble, artists are up to their ears in metaphors, so much so that their self-expression goes to farce. I don't know why this is considered good. It's unbearable to watch, and I'm not just talking about movies. The vast majority of contemporary art is like this. Often taken, it is views on the sexual nature of man, I believe that the field for creativity is much more. Don’t misunderstand, there is nothing against emancipation, in this regard, I do not have, but it is impossible to build everything exclusively in this field. This topic is pushed everywhere, in bad proportions. Let's just say it's always "oversalted." In my understanding, art should bring beauty, magically awaken feelings, fascinate. Now, it’s an insanity with metaphors that creators try to explain to the misunderstanding, because it’s impossible to understand. I always catch myself reading a fairy tale about The King's Hot, and it's depressing. The craft of present-day authors is nothing but self-admiration, art for oneself loved.
Let’s get to the movie!
What is it? Unusual love? Interplanetary Love? Punks? We'll find out. I will not go into the plotting of the plot. Still, it's partly an arthouse, and the structures, past the love line, are no. I can tell you that the film is beautiful and sometimes even manages to make you laugh. The undoubted plus of the paintings is also the main characters, they perfectly got used to the role, the most important thing is the chemistry. You believe them.
And now the negative
There is no base in the film, from the word, at all! All the sidelines don't lead anywhere! As I watched, I thought, why are these secondary characters? Timekeeping? Neither Nicole Kidman nor the gang of friends in the film influence anything, their stories do not end. The film itself does not know what it is and where it is going. The absolute “psychedel” that happens in alien society just happens. And I can actually see how it was created: "Oh, it's so unusual, so creative, let's add it." The elaboration of the alien themselves is disgusting, bypassing the monologue of the main character, about the travels and forms acquired by her, you will not hear anything more sensible.
The aliens themselves, except visually, do not reveal in any way, they do not even have interaction with each other, let alone interaction with punks. I was wondering why they came to Earth. They are completely separated from the earth. The main reason for the film is tourism. The smartest species do nothing and know nothing. No one asks questions, no one even in their midst understands their purpose of being on our planet!
Now, let’s continue the review, revealing the visual part of this creation. The picture is terribly unstable, from beautiful to vomiting terrible, a kind of roller coaster. It gets nauseous at the end. I do not know what guided the authors, but such experiments between the colors cause fatigue from viewing. In principle, the whole picture is built on a combination of incompatible. There is no restraint, plans change without any apparent reason, the plots - as well. The romantic line is replaced by punk, punk - absurd, and so in a circle is not vomiting. The GG line is not woven into the world of punks, it, as it were, separately, because of this, does not empathize with the heroes. Honestly, I don’t want to see the ending, I’m tired of seeing it. Someone can search for meaning, find images of eternal love across time and space, and they can succeed. I wouldn't believe that deception. There's no such thing!
In the end, a superficial work of absurd art! The authors have never been able to understand that metaphors should reflect something, and they just do. The salt itself is not delicious.
If you hit punk, you definitely need a fighting girlfriend. And if it is not of this world, it is even better.
Fantastic melodrama with elements of either comedy, musical, or horror is praised by many ardent fans of “non-standard” cinema. Perhaps genre uncertainty even goes to the benefit of the work. Interplanetary love, a few disgusting scenes, musical opposition of different worlds, and, of course, the unearthly Fanning - all this only emphasizes the cosmic nature of the story.
Young rebel Anne adores punk, with the diligence of an excellent student trying to try on all the attributes of punk culture, lives and “punks” with friends somewhere on the outskirts of London. Once, having got to a party or to sectarians, or to schizanite fans of latex, he meets the charming and mysterious Zen. They only have 48 hours to fall in love and give Zeng an express course on the rebelliousness of a flourishing youth.
The psychedelic begins in the first 10 minutes. And then throughout the film, chaos, anarchy and farce reign on the screen. The summary nature of the narrative is both a depressing minus and an immensely pleasing plus: everything depends on the philosophical beliefs and genre preferences of the viewer. So before viewing it will not be superfluous to think: is it worth getting involved in this hour and a half punk-space odyssey.
Speaking about the participants of this alien orgy, it is certainly worth mentioning the inimitable Nicole Kidman. Many, of course, waited for her appearance in such an unusual role. Alas, Her Majesty the Queen of Punk is not given as much screen time as I would like, however, plenty to enjoy her rebellious toilets still succeed.
As for the acting of our Romeo and Juliet in a new hooligan reading, the reciprocity of rebellious first love is not very much believed and the chemistry between the characters is not much seen. However, Alex Sharp’s rather sluggish performance can be forgiven for his completely charming British accent (which “sins” most of the cast). The spirit of old England in all this enterprise is perhaps the most pleasant thing in the film.
But if Alex Sharp in the role of an ardent adept of punk culture does not look very convincing, then El Fanning with her truly alien beauty fits into the picture extremely organically. Perhaps because it is not her first time to play girls of this world. Now, after no less psychedelic "Neon Demon", the intergalactic traveler went to conquer London and with naively childish charm to learn the brave new world of punk (fortunately, with a subculture, the lady was lucky) and love, of course.
Despite a couple of unpleasant, and sometimes even shocking moments, the movie looks quite easy and pleasant. The picture looks catchy and stylish, the “alien” component of the film is perfectly emphasized by the abundance of colorful latex, space musical design, and colorful skirmishes with local aborigines.
How to talk with girls at parties" - quite a pretty representative of arthouse cinema, stands out for its unpretentiousness, unobtrusiveness and youthful light.
It is difficult to put an unambiguous assessment of such a controversial, but definitely fervent creation. Undoubtedly, the film, not for everyone, he did not hit his face in the dirt, remembered for a long time, which suggests that, despite some disadvantages and doubts, something catching in it is sure to be. But it does not become a valuable spiritual gain in exchange for a modest hour and a half of life.
The film made an impression. It turned out a strange, but rather attractive mix between punk rock and rollers and alien aliens, who came to London, throwing a party. From these 2 camps, punk Anne and alien Zen are drawn to each other. As they get acquainted, they begin to realize that they are very similar to each other. Proximity, manifested in a small amount of time, does not pass in vain, leaves an imprint on both heroes.
Acting level. Elle Fanning adequately embodied the alien on the screen Zen. She, like the punk guys, gives quirks and eccentricities “Merge with a brown dwarf”, “Make me more punk” in her own way, but more calmly and smoothly blends into the environment of punks who love rock and roll is not childish. Alex Sharp also performed well as a punk individual. His behavior is very diverse. Ann is devoted to punk culture, making his sketches of the boy virus, through the means of music, absorbing everything you want. In addition to his fantasies, he also wittily communicates with his friends, but with girls, sometimes behaves modestly. The encounter with Zen changes him in a special way, giving him more courage and determination, especially for the final act. Anne understands that he is him, she is her. Nicole Kidman is beautiful in the role of punk queen, leader Boadicea, looking for promotion for her wards, and not averse to work with those who have an ardent talent for rock and roll, behaves outrageous and liberated, no one shy.
"How to Talk to a Girl" is a fantastic melodrama of 2017, with a taste of comedy, along with punk rock music. Impressed by the visual space in which the main characters fall, while performing their strange song – came out a bright mesmerizing contrast. In addition to the main characters, the characters of the 2nd plan are remembered, such as: an alien girl hiding her hand; and Anne's friend - his name is Vic, a blonde who tries to fully experience special sensations from aliens. As a result, in this story, there is every interesting, gloriously and well-dwelling into the soul.
7 out of 10
“Men from Mars, women from Venus” is an indisputable truth. "How to Talk to Girls at Parties" takes this statement to some extent and extends it to the level of an easy fantasy about the relationship of species. The alien once again in the cinema is trying to learn something new about humanity, but only in this case, oddly enough, something positive embodied in the form of punk rock and its accompanying ideology. The flamboyant, sharp and at times overtly mischievous spectacle looks metaphorical, and at times evolves into an almost revolutionary statement about tough antisocial punks and their confrontation with peaceful hippies, suggesting that subcultures at heart are not so different.
The film takes place in Croydon, South London, in 1977, which is very important. Punk blossoms with beer glass containers and smells of visitors to small basement rooms. Young rebel Anne and her friends publish a fan magazine; the three are regulars in a club/art space dominated by the queen of punk music (the beautiful Nicole Kidman). In search of adventure, the heroes wandered into a beautiful manor, where, as they thought, there would be a party of rockers, but in fact everything ended with a gathering of aliens. Anne starts a conversation with Zen, who is tired of the rules and directives governing communication with earthlings. Eventually, the girl runs away with the young man.
This is roughly what Gaiman’s story tells us. However, director John Cameron Mitchell went further and added what I think is the right beginning and end to the original source, and filled the empty spaces with attractive characters. The devil lies in the details, and it is such personalities as the heroine Nicole Kidman, the single mother of Anne, as well as various types of aliens – all this serves to attract attention to the project, endow it with cosmic charm.
The characters and costumes give each of the alien guests their unique identities, but no one stands out as sexually hungry Stella. The heroine contains an almost shocking secret. In general, a lot of sexual insinuations and inner energy of the “RCDC” are similar to the “Rocky Horror Show”, and the pinnacle of this attractiveness and similarity occurs during the psychedelic scene of the song-dance. It is both disturbing and joyful. It is these elements that amplify the usual mediative picture of two lovers whose feelings go beyond public (okay, alien) morality. Criticism is possible, except that the script very clumsily shows a confrontation between punks and aliens, which is solved in a matter of minutes. Nevertheless, it is in the finale that there is a symbolic function: the utopian love movement has found an unexpected point of contact with the followers of the notorious "anarchy in the U.K.", and this contrast allows you to look at the "STARTICLE" from different angles.
A couple of short animated scenes aren’t really necessary or even distracting, and it’s not that these colorful moments are reminiscent of Thanos searching for the Infinity Stones. It's not even about clumsy animation. "CSTCW" doesn't need all these inserts about the life of bacteria in space to strengthen the relationship between Fanning and Sharp. And it is on Fanning, who has a beautiful puppet appearance, everything is built here. In this case, her role is far from a princess or supermodel, or even a sexualized alien. Mitchell was more interested in portraying her as an inquisitive child, traveling from innocence to the world of pure creativity.
A pantastical film, so to speak, suffers a little from the artificial stretching of a short story, so often the script may not seem very well written, but “STARTICLE” contains everything to generate positive emotions during viewing. At the very least, the project is very different from other works based on Gaiman’s work (including Stardust and Coralina in Nightmare Land), and in the direction of optimism, strangeness and maturity, especially when the script tries to focus on the theme of the transition from music to the knowledge of life itself. Auxiliary elements such as the soundtrack, alien costumes, the strange speech of the latter also support the backbone of the main story and sometimes make you remember something like “The Confiscator” or “Scott Pilgrim”, bringing a fresh breath of air to the environment of monotonous fiction.
General impression: Definitely a picture of love, only the exception is that one of the lovers is an alien. But there are no terrible and frightening episodes, no one will eat, bite, douse acid. There are nasty ones, but the maximum you exclaim is "Foo." Here, extraterrestrial intelligence is represented as a human (no, not that "Special"). The action of the tape takes place in the 70s. Three punk friends leave one party and end up in another. In the house, under the noise of extraterrestrial music, Ann (Alex Sharp) meets a girl Zan (El Fanning). Anne falls in love, and Zan seems to be too, and in general, she needs a lot to expand her boundaries of experience. Two other friends also do not lag behind: one of the guys already comprehends the dance, and the second is dragged into sexual intercourse by one concerned alien. But soon the guys leave the house with horror, only with them and Zan.
Anarchy ran through the film in red text, it is impossible not to notice this. Rebel teenagers are not ready to accept the rules, even from another planet. After all, there is another problem in the plot - adults and children. Well, the political subtext, but the complexity in the film is huge, not everyone will understand this subtext. To put it simply, imagine that the film is not aliens, but a different nation. Everything falls into place.
Good acting in the movies, the guy who played Anne touched me. He was good at playing a lover, and in general the duet with Fanning turned out to be charming. There is another character who pleased me - Queen Boadicei (Nicole Kidman) - an explosive and original madam. Nicole is damn good in this image, you want to look at her, you want to listen to her. In this unusual humor, it will not cause a dizzying laugh, but catch a smile, although I laughed with some moments from the heart. There are ambiguous phrases, the film is full of such dialogue. For example, “I once merged with a brown dwarf.” Hence, not understanding among different races, can be attributed to not understanding cultures.
The movie got 18+, why? Well, not everyone can understand such a movie, but this is not the problem, perhaps the rating was assigned because of too huge protest of foundations or political hints, history is silent about this. The picture is generally diverse in itself and contains a lot, but at the expense of everything mixed and escapes interest in the end, because there is romance, and family, and science, irony, satire, and even someone will cause nostalgia. More and more. This is a film about love, about first love. It's just an amateur.
I haven't read Neil Gaiman's story. I wasn't in the punk clubs of late '70s London. So I honestly don't care about the source, British politics and authenticity.
This is one of the best films of the year for me. This is a kind of punk fool, seasoned with classical fiction. It is obvious that no one interfered with the director. I don’t see any compromises or complicity in front of the viewer or producer.
I really hope El Fanning stays in the movies. It is in the movies, not in the rides about superheroes or stamped melodramas. The temptation will be great. The success of the film (we won’t count it at the box office) is 60 percent, and maybe 65 percent. Charming, not starred, delving into the essence, developing her heroine.
There are no complaints to the other actors, they are well-chosen. Here is the merit of the director, he created funny images that you miss after the end of the film.
Nicole Kidman brought attention to the film and thank you. Honestly, she's fooling around, not playing, but maybe it's for the best.
The second half of the film looks boring, and this is a drawback, it can not be ignored. If this is punk and punk, then continue in the same vein, and do not put before the characters dilemmas of the level of Shakespeare. It is a pity that the director slowed down and left the Croydon area for Interstellar.
8 out of 10
It is puzzling mainly that the picture is assigned the category “18+”. The authors obviously tried to make films for middle school age. So much so that at times it seems as if the script was written under the age of fourteen. In itself, the plot about the love of a humanized alien and a fervent punk from the London East End suggests similar thoughts.
However, the tape also has strengths. Lively shown punking London of the 1970s - 1980s. Actors El Fanning, Nicole Kidman and Alex Sharp well pull even the notoriously failed script. It was a good time to shoot in the East End. Some of the locations, in my opinion, are borrowed from the music videos of Pink Floyd, in particular “The Wall”, but it’s even good.
In general, a glorious and, in modern times, quite chaste (even children from an alien get, in the best Victorian traditions, from kissing) film for teenagers. Why was it placed in the 18+ category? Not otherwise, the film officials were scared by the young rebellious punks.
5 out of 10
Anne, a rebel in the soul and a little in life, wears a fashionable leather leather, easily rude to the elders (not forgetting to ask for money to make the evening a success) and is constantly in the shadow of his more intractable friend Vic. Not that the jacket was cooler or the inner world is more interesting, it’s more about the correct image of the “bad guy” who does not waste time drawing stupid comics or reflecting on family problems. A confident look, a slight touch of mystery, a couple of worked-out phrases, and any girl agrees to go up with him to the bedroom of so successfully separated parents. When you are seventeen, you are absolutely sure that sooner or later you can do anything. Moving mountains? No problem. Get a star out of the sky? No problem. And maybe one day I’ll talk to a girl at a party.
It would seem, how much has already been written and filmed about such romantics, for the time being hiding in their shell, who are pulled out of the usual dusk by the first fall in love, but Neil Gaiman is difficult to attribute to lovers of walking the beaten paths. His sketch about a strange meeting of a punk shy guy with aliens from other universes considered the usual plot from a different, rather curious, angle, however, in fact, did not have a clear ending, remaining something like a hastily recorded morning sleep. John Cameron Mitchell successfully solved this problem, almost verbatim retelling the literary source in the first half of his film, to then go into a breakaway, managing not to distract from the main thing, but also not to slide into a snotty sentimental romkom that two young lovers will certainly be together, regardless of all obstacles.
In fact, signs of mild madness of what is happening are observed at the very beginning, when the characters get to the concert, where the heroine Nicole Kidman, reminiscent of the fruit of love of Cruella De Vil and David Bowie, rules the ball, but until a certain point it seems only a tribute to the era of British punk rock, not without reason the action was postponed in 1977. However, gradually the rampage is gaining momentum, and only interruptions with excerpts of Anne’s dreams allow you to take a breath, “go out for a smoke”, and then again plunge into the atmosphere of this damn charming anarchy. “Make me more punk!” asks the protagonist alien Zen, who met him at a random party, and it seems that this call is addressed not only and not so much to the character as to his puppeteer. Bright latex costumes, wonderful dances, crazy logic of aliens combined with the peculiarities of a certain branch of musical culture and the realities of London 1977 create a strange, but surprisingly attractive world in which Ziggy Stardust was not killed, but simply moved to permanent residence in the clips of Björk.
Although punk culture is loosely associated with tenderness, it is a key emotion of the film. With all the seeming lack of sense of proportion, the director is very careful about the story he tells, and the eye-clavicles and pseudo-existential monologues of cannibals suffering from compulsive overeating are nothing more than another touch, a pleasant humorous background for those who really should be in the forefront. And it is not for nothing that these roles were chosen intelligent Alex Sharp, from whom it seems that Stephen Fry is about to hatch, and El Fanning, who finally got to the image for whose creation it is not enough just to appear indifferently in the frame. These two form an amazing inner strength of the tandem of opposites, the personification without (d)smart happy youth, the anthem of which is sung by Mitchell, nostalgically going through the frames with memories.
Having shot the punk version of Stardust (all the same Gaiman), he fearlessly declares himself as a complete idealist, sentimentally believing in that love that literally falls from the sky, knocks down, breathtaking, and which does not necessarily end with the traditional “happily ever after”. The main thing is that there will always be some stardust at the fingertips. Dust that will help to come true even the naive dreams of a seventeen-year-old romantic.
How to Talk to Girls at Parties is a film from the previous Cannes Film Festival. Not the one that happened a couple of weeks ago, but the one that's been a year since. “The main thing is to do everything on time” is not about Russian distributors.
Boris Ivanov of Empire described the picture most accurately: “This is a romantic fantastic musical farcical youth tragicomedy with elements of satire, family drama and sex comedy.” The best thing is that, despite this definition, cinema looks very easy and relaxed. Morals and metaphors here lie on the surface (no need to dig into anything), I will not explain, and so everything is clear. Earth heroes in the film are quite mundane (sorry for the pun), which is why they are easy to “believe”. Most of all, I liked the main character Anne - punk, who believes in his ideals, tries to keep everyone at a distance, but in moderation.
All of this wouldn't be enough if it wasn't for serving. Without demonstrations of the cosmos, distant planets, stars, creators (or Neil Gaiman?) were able to invent and demonstrate to us an entire universe with its own orders, ancient (and not so) customs and laws. Aliens look like people, but by their costumes, dances, simple movements it is very clear that they are not of this world, and this gives charm.
The film echoes the dawn of heavy music, in our case punk, in the UK. So, in contrast between the gray suburbs of London and the bright alien robes and rituals, we are shown the similarity of Anne and the alien Zen, who are trying to prove that freedom and individuality (by the way, this is the Xen faction) are the most important value for man, which in both worlds simply replaced a very abstract common good. The atmosphere of underground punk concerts is believable. And the episode where Anne and Zen, who had no idea what to sing, tell a punk story of the world where the girl came from, deserves endless praise. As it is impossible not to note the ingenuity and psychedelicity of dances and rituals of aliens, which both repel and attract at the same time.
To be honest, I didn’t want to go to this movie at first. But then I said to myself, "There's El Fanning and Nicole Kidman, we have to go." And yes, the actors didn't fail either. Alex Sharp played Anne realistically. El Fanning represents universal innocence, and does it very well. Nicole Kidman delighted in a very unusual and memorable role of the leader of the punks.
In other words, “How to talk...” is a very strong and unconventional mixture of everything. It is not easy and enjoyable.
“How to Talk to Girls Not Parties” is a story by Neil Gaiman, better known as the author of the novels American Gods and Stardust, as well as the comic book series Sandman. During his short history, the writer was awarded the annual literary award in the field of science fiction and fantasy “Locus”. The plot was in demand and in 2013, artists Moon Fabio and Ba Gabriel created the comic book of the same name.
The next step was a free film adaptation, in which the story took the place of a tie, and the rest of the timekeeping tells a love story, in the entourage of British punk culture of the late 70s: rock, sex and alcohol, against the background of slum London.
The main character is a shy teenager Anne, who has problems in communicating with girls. Together with friends Vic, his complete opposite and fat John, they find themselves at a strange party, where they try to find new friends. At the party, Anne meets a charming alien Zen, who dreams of leaving her commune and exploring the human world. Together they will have 48 hours that change their lives, shaking up the device of an extraterrestrial commune and a London punk party.
Like Gaiman's story, the film came out as a very chamber work. All the charm was concentrated in the excellent cast and soundtrack, consisting of classic punk songs, albeit not the first echelon. The latter generally became the main leitmotif of history, in which punk culture becomes a reflection of internal and external freedom in the world. Anne's high schooler feels like a part of it. His room, like the treehouse, is covered with posters of "Sex pistols," "The Clash," "The Dischords" and his own cartoon drawings. Free time, wearing leather reels, friends spend in music stores picking up new records, and in the evening stuffed into another club, where a new rock concert takes place. If in his story Gaiman wrote about the decline of punk rock, the viewer will see his flowering and will be able to plunge into his British version with his head.
A kind of old school is reflected not only in music and entourage. It is complemented by a grainy picture and ragged cinematography, imitating clips and a film of the 70s. At first, this approach looks unusual, but eventually become part of the entourage, complementing the story with courage and beautiful stylization.
The aliens in the movie don’t look like humanoids. Rather, they are ordinary freaks in colorful latex suits, strange behavior and even more suspicious speeches. For the heroes, these are the next crazy Americans who founded a cult on the island. Their commune is very closed and adheres to strict rules of segmentation determined by the color of the group and the level of interaction with the outside world.
Punk as an expression of inner freedom by venting the brightest emotions, becomes one of the main leitmotifs of the picture. The director confronts the world of adolescent anarchy like a virus penetrating into a strict system of values in which personal individuality has long been replaced by the idea of the universal good. To reflect these polarities, a banal method of the love story of Romeo and Juliet was used, who suddenly found a friend despite external circumstances.
Due to fairly simple ideas and classical techniques, the plot is not the strongest side of the film. Dialogue is not brilliant either. There is a pleasant humor, very similar to British. Most of the jokes are built around the extravagant behavior and habits of alien guests. They will be able to smile at the viewer, but count on more in this teenage melodrama is not worth it.
If the picture does not fall in love with its extravagance and entourage, it will make a great cast. The main characters, performed by Alex Sharp and El Fanning, managed to create excellent chemistry, immersing the viewer in the brightest emotions and sensations. Throughout the film, they energize the youthful energy of freedom and learning about a world filled with adult problems and universal solutions. That’s what young people are trying to hide from.
The duo is complemented by Nicole Kidman, who plays the head of a local punk band discovering new musical talents. The image of the former fun, albeit aged punk diva, with dyed and combed hair, allows you to look at it from a new side.
“How to talk to girls not parties” is the best way to take a break from the bored blockbuster madness, succumbing to the charm of this picture. The main thing is to leave snobbery at the door, not to try to analyze the plot and what is happening. In the foreground, heroes with their eccentricities and teenage problems, which are always pleasant to remember, surrendering to bright emotions and the former, no longer achievable, freedom.
Youth, how beautiful it is, especially in the turbulent 70s of London, where new fashions are raging to dress up as Punks and smash the usual way of life upside down, and established rules in England. Among these friends is Anne, a guy who imitates and kneels before rock. However, the incompetent does not understand communication with girls and that's luck, the most unusual boy comes across a very unusual person.
Curiosity is like a virus, from it emerges the first teenage experience in culture, manners of dressing and other things without which we cannot live. And the heroes of this story perfectly convey these qualities, despite the presence of fiction.
El Fanning has disengaged from the usual images of negative beauties and turned into a beautiful swan, believing in naivety (not like Aurora from Maleficent, of course) and does things that are not so crazy, unlike her brothers. Ruth Wilson revealed her extraterrestrial nature and sexuality. But who surprised me, so one of the punk friends begins to get acquainted with the orientation of the sexes and I think there are no words that better describe him from the heroine Kidman.
The main character was played by Alex Sharp with all the fanaticism and self-doubt in the beginning. You can do anything alone, but people and friends rarely get a chance to shine with hidden talents. After meeting Zenn, the young man will begin to change his life priorities. I can’t imagine his game, the main thing is true.
The prima of rock Nicole Kidman shines in all metal. Her trump card is a capital elaborated image that boasts originality and love for the mass audience.
Why did you want to watch this particular movie? Maybe because of the bright colors on the poster or the picture was hotly expected by me, who visited Cannes. That for some time the creators inserted translations of original songs, which is rare. Still, because remotely this sex tape wrapped in latex resembles Alan Parker's "The Wall" for Pink Floyd. Here it is important to understand how to add relationships, what they grow out of (dating, communication, friendship, love) and what results (children, responsibility, etc.). The film does not teach you how to live, it shows the experience in reality and at the same time entertains you with colorful rock and rollers and inexperienced aliens.
Mankind is stepping on these rakes already God knows how long we live as we breathe. Love creates trust and smoothly flows into sexual intercourse, if you will, and children are the flowers of life that make love better and the world brighter.
The painting “How to talk to girls at parties” is a fascinating fantastic story about love. The film takes place in the suburbs of London in 1977. Three friends of punk high school students after the next concert go in search of afterpathy and accidentally wander to an unusual party. There they observe small groups of people in amazing costumes of various colors. One of them is fond of sexy Stella (Rut Wilson), the other finds himself in a strange dance, and the main character Anne (Alex Sharp) falls in love with the beautiful Zan (El Fanning). At first, he thinks she's just a crazy American, but later he learns that she's an alien, like everyone else at the party. This is only an intriguing plot of the film, which can be called a fantastic romantic musical comedy imbued with punk culture.
This work was put by John Cameron Mitchell on the story of the same name by the now very popular English writer Neil Gaiman. American Mitchell – a provocative director, screenwriter, actor – is known to the theater and film audience for his musical, and later for the film, Hedwig and the Unlucky Inch. British Gaiman, in turn, is best known for the novel “American Gods” and its recent serial incarnation. In creating a beautiful visual style, Mitchell was helped by the cameraman Frank J. DeMarco, who directed Hope Will Not Extinguish with Robert Radford, as well as costume designer Sandy Powell, winner of three Oscars, for her past work. Along with this, in the picture you can hear the plague music of the 70s, and not so much hits, as it usually happens, as the tracks of less well-known groups, which even more immerses in that atmosphere.
Watching this picture is a pleasure if you like its creators love punk rock and Britain of the time. Animated psychedelic scenes complementing what is happening look bright and fascinating. The cast, which to the already listed stars (and otherwise they can not be called, because Ruth Wilson and Alex Sharp are also theatrical actors who have received high awards) is complemented by the never fading Nicole Kidman in the image of the punk queen Bodice, looks very convincing. And the charming Elle Fanning, who is finally over 18 years old, will make even those who perfectly know how to talk to girls at parties nervous.
Imagine that you and your friends are relative losers, confident in their coolness. Once, wearing reels with pins on your collar, you find yourself in some incomprehensible way at Andrei Bartenev’s party, meet strange people, try the “new” in sex and think for the first time about who you are. What could happen after that? Right. One of the most incredible adventures.
So easy and simple (with a synopsis) start the text about the film “How to talk to girls at parties”, which this Thursday released in the rental of A-One Films. The phantasmagoria of young love also looks easy and at ease. Pleasant cast and proper musical accompaniment created an excellent atmosphere of English grounding. Everything from alien costumes to vomiting during a kiss doesn’t look wild at all, but is accessible and up close, if I may say so.
Elle Fanning once again takes all her sweetness and virginity, leaving Nicole Kidman with a crooked British accent and Ruth Wilson with a grin. Most of all with “punkuha” copes with Alex Sharp. He was well able to show the boy, piously believing in his ideals, but deliberately keeping away from them. He can put the Queen down in front of his mother’s friends and then stand and wash dishes in a Punks Not Dead T-shirt. These two factors hint at the versatility of the character and make him the most capacious hero of the film, ready to really go against the regime.
I want to complain only about the lubricated finale, but even it is uncritical, since the film reflects its main essence. How to Talk to Girls at Parties is a 90-minute parable of curiosity. It is from him that adventure, courage and even love are born here. A love that is easy to meet despite being from another galaxy. The main thing is to be prepared that it may disappear.
“How to Talk to Girls at Parties” is a movie that has long been expected in the circle of cinephiles. And even though the picture was taken coolly in Cannes, John Cameron Mitchell, known for several films that intersect on their subject with “The Party”, instilled moderate optimism; and in general, what could be better than the punk rock history of Anglo-Saxon Romeo and Juliet on Friday evening.
The streets are seventies. Young rebels Anne, Vic and John accidentally wander into a bizarre house, from the threshold of which they are met by girls in latex suits, who turn out to be aliens, divided into colonies with their own unique missions: Stella explores sex, Zach seeks independence. And this is where Anne meets Zen. The heroes had an island, youth and only 48 hours to learn what Punk is.
Cinema, fervently starting as the good old British riot manifesto with sex, drugs, rock and roll quite quickly changes accents and goes into a psychedelic jallo about fantastic creatures and their habitats. However, even in this house, Mitchell does not want to linger and transfers still unsettled spectators to the field of romantic relations Anne and Zan, juggling heroes, stories, conflicts on the run, and not really caring about punctuation marks.
Mitchell would have been better off focusing on one thing: trying to fit several immense genres into one “Party” personified his brainchild with the same young man trying to try all the cocktails in one evening – there is a desire, but there is not enough exposure.
If very briefly about the bright sides, then El Fanning in the role of Zen here represents a girl from another league. Each time, getting into the frame, she animated and decorated the picture, organically conveying the image of a girl not from this world. The experience of playing with neon Röfn was not in vain. A good soundtrack and live camera DeMarco made to believe in those cute stupidities that happened to the characters in these ninety-something.
In the 20th minute, Zan summed up the film in absentia: “Your metaphor has a lot of contradictions, but it touched me.”
“How to Talk to Girls at Parties” is a film directed by John Cameron Mitchell, best known for the musical “Hedwig and the Unlucky Inch” and the drama “Rabbit Hole” with Nicole Kidman, who received an Academy Award nomination for this film in 2011. Special attention to the musical component and the participation of Kidman did not bypass the new film director. But still, the main star of the picture is not a bright sound and Kidman, but an incredible 20-year-old actress El Fanning, who has already managed to become one of the main and most talented young stars of Hollywood and the leading favorite of directors of all stripes, which now has such a dense schedule and peak demand that films with her participation seem to be put on the conveyor - pleases tirelessly all year round.
So, the film about “partying” is inspired and based on the story of the same name by the English science fiction writer Neil Gaiman, the author of such famous works as “Stardust” and “American Gods”, as well as the owner of many prestigious literary awards. The story tells the story of two friends who accidentally get to an unusual intergalactic party organized by aliens. This short story was nominated for a Hugo Award and won the Locus Award for Best Story in 2006.
The film tells about the era of the 80s, where the main character named Anne is a rather ordinary and shy young man living on the outskirts of the city with his mother, succumbs to the fashionable punk movement and tries to comply with it in every possible way, imitating all aspects of true-punk. Together with friends of the same status and trying to pretend to be bad guys, the guy wanders around London at night in search of killer places for hot afterpathy, and comes across a rather intricate house with extraordinary and extraordinary people (aliens), where the hero meets a girl (alien) named Zen, and briefly tells her about himself and punk culture. The girl, tired of the boring and rigid cult of the traditions of her people, runs away from her elders and asks her new companion to familiarize her with the life of people, namely punk culture.
After that, they descend into the abyss of bright youthful rebelliousness, shown under the prism of comicality and farce, and the very presence of the alien creates an additional effect of “removal” in the film, with which points of human quirks and strangeness begin to protrude especially acutely. And the quirks of the aliens themselves are subtly metaphorized for human habits.
The film turned out to be very cheerful, lively, performed by the amateur energy of the 80s. To the film, of course, you can begin to make claims because of its wild confusion and slackness of the genre, but all its punk orientation with its no less punk content and drive is not even that smooths out all the uneven angles, but makes them its feature. To scold this film from an academic point of view is also stupid, and even so empty, and no one needs to make claims to garage rock in its shoddy sound. He's punk to spit on criticism, break the system, do the opposite and not worry. If you want to rebel a little in the shower, and daring punk music does not cut your ears, then this film will fit like never before.