The opening title is generalised with the use of the
word ‘About’ and is used as a metaphor for her insignificance as one of many, a
thought that is expanded throughout the film. For example, she is first
revealed as a silhouette, which represents her lack of identity and
vulnerability. The link to the mainstream film ‘About a Boy’ deliberately forms
expectations for the reader that this may be a feel-good movie, so that the
grittiness of it and the departure from what is considered the ‘norm’ is more
shocking and effective for the audience. The appearance of the title as a text
message with the sounds of the buttons tells us that it is directed at
teenagers, young adults.
The song, “Now I’m Stronger,” becomes part of the
meta-narrative as it is a metaphor for her whole life. The absence of a
soundtrack in the film makes it more slow-paced and in-turn influencing because
it helps evoke its documentary style, and we are hit by the realism and
grittiness of socialism. The hard, tough
background of the mise-en-scene reveals a lot about her life and the decision
she makes at the end. Like her mother – who throws her dog in the canal – she
has been hardened by life and society. Her accent and her dialogue tell us that
she is not well educated, “If Jesus was alive he’d be a singer”. Her idea that
Bacardi Breezers are symbolic of wealth depicts her naivety and deliberately
detracts the audience’s attention from her story, and diffusing the built up
tension. As a product of her environment, she believes herself to be grown up
as stresses her age of thirteen, a frustration the audience can empathise with.
She has had to change and she can read between the lines, and does not believe
in fantasies, “He could’ve played for Man City...not.” However, on the other
hand we see the child-like dreamer in her when she is with her friends tells us
that they are in a band.
The director deliberately reveals pieces about her
life slowly using a matter-of-fact tone, which distances her emotionally from
the narrative (her personality is her protection) and tells the audience that
she does not like to dwell on her life or surroundings too much. The quick cuts
of her when she is walking and talking directly to the audience reflect her
personality; it shows that she has no continuity in her thoughts and there is
just too much to say and the audience do not have the capacity to take it in.
The ending is designed to shock and force the audience
reflect on her behaviour and society as it is today. The baby in the plastic
bag is symbolic because it is a direct metaphor of her life. The baby is
unprotected and suffocated like her and the use of a white bag depicts the
triviality o her life – she know no other way, other than what she has been
taught. The plastic bag also represents ‘the girl’ and the way it is caught in
a wire infers that she will or already is trapped and confined to the society,
which she inhabits. The significance of the ending is however also important in
terms of the lighting and pathetic fallacy. Throughout the film, the lighting
is dull and dismal, however at the end we get a glimpse of sunset, so some of
the audience might interpret that maybe there is in fact, hope for her.
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