About a girl
- Eva Leeds
- Oct 2, 2017
- 2 min read
'About a girl' is a short film, released in 2001, directed by Brian Percival based on a script written by Julie Rutterford. It gives an insight into the life of a thirteen year old girl, from a working class family living in Manchester. As we walk along side her by a canal, she tells us about her life, her family and her dreams for the future. However, this hopeful introduction hints at a background of neglect and pain, and makes the ending even more shocking.
Everything about the film feels real. From the desolate locations to the actress's thick Mancunian accent. The situation her family are in and the lack of non-diagetic sound. With a whole world of films set in fantasy lands and made up planets, it is often simple films like this, set in the harsh and very real world, that make us really think, which is the power of movies as an art form.
Personally, I found the twist in the story very shocking. The moment that you realise that it's her baby that she has thrown into the canal hits really hard and left me feeling speechless. The last shot of the movie contrasts with the rough and fast paced nature of the rest of the film. The director decided to use a crane shot that looks down on the girl, as if to show the viewer he more vulnerable side as we look down on her as she walks away. The fact that as the end credits role we hear he sing the same Brittney Spears song that she opened the film with (quieter and sadder this time) makes us feel sympathetic towards her. Some could say that what she did was heartless and cruel, but after all she's been through, she's still the same young girl who dreams of becoming a pop star.
The film talks about some difficult subject matter which was not very talked about: teen pregnancy. The 'girl', played by Ashley Thewelis, is never given a name, which is unusual considering that she is the protagonist of this short story, which made me think about how when we hear about stories like this we just refer to the young women as if they're not individuals, as if they are just another 'girl' who got pregnant at a young age. The fact it is only after we hear talk about herself that the fact that she has had a baby is revealed made me think about the girls that this happens to and how they are more than just teenage mothers. They are young women with pasts, presents and futures, dreams and aspirations and their pregnancy does not define them, which is what I took away
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