The Girl

The Girl is a beautiful and moody tale about a 9 1/2 year old girl whose parents have left her at home in the care of her aunt for the summer, as they've gone on a humanitarian trip to Africa. By turns, the aunt ends up leaving the girl herself, going off to travel with her boyfriend. The girl (whose name is never given), then tells the handful of people she has contact with that her aunt is there and things are just fine .... and in this way, spends the summer without her family or any adult care whatsoever. The story's about the character of the girl and the various thing she goes through while spending time alone, and with a small handful of others. This includes quite an array of experiences, many of them quiet, some fun, some painful, and all interesting to witness. The actress portraying the girl, Blanca Engstrom, is phenomenal, expressing an amazing range of feeling, all very honestly, and very subtley. The film is shot beautifully as well, and is lovely to watch in any case, as it's set in the environs of an old farmhouse outside a small town. The pacing is great too - it's a portrait, and for that reason slows us down to pay attention much as the girl herself does, while being interspersed with moments of greater activity, interaction, and emotion. Lastly, there were many moments that I could identify with from when I was that age - catching tadpoles, friends and peers, learning to swim, etc - part of what makes the story feel so genuine. A great film, I hope to see more both from the director and the actress.

Very cool movie. "The Girl" (2009) should be required viewing for all film and video production students. Each shot is a creative tapestry of composition, light, and shadow. Fredrick Edfeldt's acting-for-the camera direction is inspired and Blanca Engstrom gives the perfect nuanced and underplayed performance needed to match the pace and tone of his film. But the real star of this remarkable film is Swiss cimematographer Hoyte Van Hoytema, who has since been the Director of Photography for "Interstellar" (2014). The film is worth a second watch just to appreciate each carefully composed shot. I've never seen anyone do it better, even breaking the 180 rule several times in the service of underscoring the girl's increasingly disoriented drift from reality. It is not an entirely original story. There are many of the creepy elements from "Tideland" (2005) and some from "The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane" (1976), but "The Girl" is much more naturalistic and gentle than those two films. Much the same could be said about comparisons to Polanski's "Repulsion" (1965), as at times it seems that Bianca is channeling Catherine Deneuve's Carole. It could also be considered a placid "Alice In Wonderland", subtly off-kilter with Louis Carroll's illogic replaced by the mundane but equally disturbing logic of the modern adult world. Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.

TBH, i wasn't sure what this movie was, but it was enjoyable, not funny, but engaging and interesting character study.

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As it turns out, it's a good idea to keep up relations with at least a few adults (so that you don't die of things like starvation), but The Girl paints a good-natured picture of how school age children can follow conscience and rely on an inner strength that many adults presume isn't there. PROs 👧 These days, you can be accused of child abuse if you don't hover around your kids 24/7. As an answer to this ridiculous state of affairs, some rational pushback has entered the conversation (see Free-Range Kids ); I would like to think that The Girl also can help to put irrational fears into perspective. Yes, the protagonist here is lucky to have not run across any abhorrent predatory characters, but I think even that scenario would have been dealt with smartly in this film. 👧 Blanca Engström is insanely talented as "the girl." I'm sure the director helped foment her performance, but regardless, Blanca was able to pull off a range of emotions convincingly, completely making you forget that it's fiction. 👧 The supporting actors were also fantastic. 👧 The cinematography is beautiful. 👧 The plot has some depth to it, and some subtle humor. 👧 The ending is satisfying. It's a happy one, but not a typically deplorable HHE (Hollywood Happy Ending). CONs 👱 The pace will be too slow for many viewers; however, I suspect that most of the folks who don't like this pace wouldn't even consider watching a film like The Girl anyway.

Enjoyed the movie but sure wished it had English sound tract for better understanding.

Such a fantastic movie, truly well-made and an eye-opener, too. A young girl (we never get to know what her name is) ends up being left alone again and again by the adults in her life, even if those adults mean well and don't intend on abandoning her. This movie allows the viewer to explore the world through the girl's eyes, to see the idiosyncrasies of adult life, how people want to be seen and how they really act when they think no one's looking. The girl's story is one of sadness and abandonment mixed with a little bit of fun and a lot of fortitude. Truly a must-see.

Flickan (The Girl) (2009) is a Swedish drama film directed by Fredrik Edfeldt. The film depicts a little girl (Blanca Engström) left alone while her parents & brother are in Africa to do charitable work. Here are the pros & cons of this film as I see it, I hope this helps you, & remember to check that the format & region will work with your player. Pros: 1. Very nice cinematography 2. The children in this film do a good job acting Cons: 1. I don't mind slow artsy European films, but this one moves way to slow, is poorly edited, & poorly directed 2. I had figured out the plot & moral of story shortly after it started 3. For a slow film, it spends to much time on the obvious in the beginning, and then is choppy, hurried, & poorly put together in the end