Director Viktor Taus takes the story of his friend Zdena Vrbová whom he met when he was strung out on heroin. Her refusal to stay down when things were bad helped him to stand up anf get his life back in order. The story also mirrors the tale of thousands of Czech orphans who went in and out of orphanages and foster homes.
The film is the story of a woman who was called Girl America. She lived with her mother until she was removed the the Communist Czech government and put into an orphanage. She then bounced in and out of foster homes, frequently the result of her bad behavior. The film is a grand theatrical memory play as theolder Girl America tries to make sense of her life.
Do not go into this film thinking it is going to be a straight forward film it's not. It's highly stylized and very theatrical (it started life as a stage play). It is not for everyone (some comments on Letterboxd complained about the "broken" narrative and realistic nature.) however if you can go with it and let it do what it wants to, and if you can get on its wavelength this film with kick youin the chest. When it was done I was left starring at the screen. I hadn't so much lived another life so much as experienced it from inside another person.
This is a big screen movie. This is a film with its own point of view. It's a film that goes all in with all its internal references and sense of reality. We are inside of Girl America's head from start to finish and it is a place we have never been before.
Everyone bemoans that too many films are cookie cutter and are not doing anything new. GIRL AMERICA doesn't break the mold because it never was in one. Its a film crafted with pain and sorrow and a sense of life from the broken shards of a life.
I am staggered and somewhere beyond words.
That may not happen to you but by god you should see this film in the hope that this film rattles the pillar of your own cinematic heaven.
Finding films like this is why I love Fantaspoa.
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