Girl Asleep is a imaginative take on the wild ride that is adolescence. This tale is told from the perspective of Greta, an awkward Australian teen who moves to a new house & school on the precipice of her 15th birthday. Having moved to a new city around the same time in my life, I definitely identified with Greta's plight--the difficulties of making new friends in a place where it seems everyone knows each other, all while dealing with hormones, mean girls & overbearing parents. The family dynamics between Greta, her kooky parents (a dad who loves short-shorts & potty humor, a mom who matches her outfits to the meals she makes & works out on a stationary bike in wedge heels) and a surly, world-wise older sister, make for plenty of hilarious moments. Originally a stage play, written by Matthew Whittet (who also adapted the screenplay & plays Greta's father), this film takes place in the 1970s, with a groovy soundtrack to match (including SYLVESTER!). The color palette is eye-catching, and found somewhere in the center of a venn diagram joining Napoleon Dynamite & any Wes Anderson flick. The subtitles for the passing of time (& even the opening title) are cleverly interwoven into the scenes--appearing on a basketball or the growth chart on a bedroom door. I just realized that if I sat here & told you all the fun, quirky details in this movie, we could be here for hours. . . so I will move on from that. For the first 45 minutes of this movie, non-stop laughter filled the theater, at times making it hard to hear the dialog. We are all far enough removed from this age that we can easily laugh about the parts that made adolescence traumatic at the time. (To preface Chaplin &/or Keaton, "Tragedy is a close-up. Comedy, a long-shot".) When her parents throw her a birthday party (without her blessing), a trio of mean girls show up with a "present" for Greta in the form of a song called "You've Got No Tits" (which I've had stuck in my head since last night). With that, Greta retreats to her room, and the dream sequence begins (hence, the title). The heroine's quest for a music box that ensues is a perfect allegory for navigating the space between childhood & womanhood. This was the first foray into film for director Rosemary Myers & I look forward to seeing more of her work on the big screen.
Review of Girl Asleep
