User Reviews

While probably not the worst film about childhood ever made as one poster said..I agree that just a quasi cinema-verite style is not enough to make a person become emotionally connected to the film.

Parts of the film, especially when she hangs with the young boy reminded me of "My Girl" , but without the humor or pathos...

Among many other stronger serious films about children abandoned and feigning for themselves...watch "Forbidden Games" ..or the more contemporary film, "Nobody Knows" (Japan-2004) And the list goes on...

There are too many films that portray abandonment issues of childhood better. While a pretty film with an attractive (in a child-like sense) heroine, this film will be ultimately forgettable.

The director avoids any serious issues and presents an almost idyllic childhood experience, which never actually gives the viewer the dynamic tension needed to make this a memorable film experience.

Spoilers:

The only thing near to a sense of peril or endangerment (and the examples are really not even that) in the film is the taunting and stripping of the boy, and his unfortunate fall in the barn. Even then, the boy is just momentarily embarrassed, and recovers from the fall with no more than a broken leg or ankle.

I kept waiting for a punch line that never came.

The obnoxious neighbor teen and her friend didn't go anywhere, and I half expected the neighbor father when in the house alone with the girl (esp. while she was taking a bath) to allude to maybe a more malevolent outcome. but no...the girl just bounces from one scene to another seemingly without a care in the world.

I DO understand that themes may be quietly understated and the main theme of the film was the girl's transition from pure child into the world of adulthood (symbolized by the tadpole turning into an adult frog and escaping its confinement) But did the film have to do it is such a ho-hum way?

While some will call this a "slice of life" film...It is more a slice of stale Wonder Bread.

The girl on the cover of the DVD "The Girl" looks like my conception of an old friend's description of the way some people are treated, "like a red-headed step-child." Also the wonderful actress Blanca Engström, who inhabits the flesh of the film's central focus looks like my daughter's best kindergarten friend. Except the "Girl" of the film is given very little to smile about, unlike my daughter's little friend.

The girl's parents are on a mission to Africa ostensibly for humanitarian reasons but in reality because as the mother states, "I can't stand living in this cramped little world." And when, the parents learn that their daughter is too you to join them and her brother, they abandon her to an aunt who can't even take care and responsibility of herself. The Girl cleverly manages to rid herself of the aunt and her partying friends.

After I've watched and love an under-the-radar film like this I try to figure out how I found it and in this case I have very little idea. The cinematographer handled the camera in "Let the Right One In" which I loved, but I doubt that's how I found this. I'm grateful for Netflix letting me find these obscure films and for having such a vast selection so easily accessible. These are great times for cinephiles.

"The Girl" is a film about the power of silence, of observation, and the wisdom of some people, children included. The girl is wise enough to dispatch her careless aunt, to hide her situation from those adults who mighty impose on her and could disrupt her learning and her ability to discover, for herself, how the world works. The friends her age, she finds, are as thoughtless and cruel as the adults she is subjected to. Yet she pushes on, totally alone at times into the adventure she has helped create, without remorse.

This is the kind of cinema we don't get from Gollywood. This could have been made into a complete tear-jerker. But it is not, even though I did cry at the end. What a beautiful and insightful movie.

Sweden, and European cinema overall, has a rich history of capturing incredible and captivating narratives, showcasing the unconventional, or just the every day stories, in this instance a coming-of-age narrative.

It is subtly told to exception, relying heavily on beautiful imagery, cinematography and metaphors. It may very well go over younger viewer's heads, and I would not really recommend this film to children, maybe.

The actors are all great, and convey the subtelities, emotions and beautiful script wonderfully. All of them are every interesting to watch.

The cinematography, cutting and editing, as mentioned above, are all stellar. Very beautifully and uniquely put together. It looks so great.

Overall, truly a masterpiece in every sense of the word, highly recommended!