The Diary of a Teenage Girl

Based on the graphic novel The Diary of a Teenage Girl: An Account in Words and Pictures by Phoebe Gloeckner, The Diary of a Teenage Girl is the story of a 15-year old girl who becomes sexually active when she begins an affair with her mother’s new boyfriend. Written for the screen and directed by Marielle Heller, the film is a coming of age tale set in mid-1970s San Francisco where a young woman tries to deal with her thirst for sex as she would tell her story in a diary filled with audio tapes and art. Starring Bel Powley, Alexander Skarsgard, Kristen Wiig, Austin Lyon, Madeleine Waters, Margarita Levieva, and Christopher Meloni. The Diary of a Teenage Girl is a riveting and witty film from Marielle Heller.

Set in 1976 San Francisco, the film revolves around a 15-year old girl whose fascination with sex has her losing her virginity and having an affair with mother’s new boyfriend as she embarks into a journey of self-discovery through sex. It’s a coming-of-age film that says a lot about what a teenage girl would go through in her discovery of sex as she would express her feelings and views through drawings, audio tape diaries, and comics. Marielle Heller’s screenplay is quite loose in the way it tells the journey that Minnie Goetz (Bel Powley) would go through as she is someone that is very gifted in her drawing but also naïve in thinking that losing her virginity and having sex makes her a woman. By having losing her virginity and having an affair with her mother’s boyfriend Monroe (Alexander Skarsgard), Minnie thinks she is in love as she tries to hide the affair from her mother Charlotte (Kristen Wiig). Eventually, things get complicated where Minnie would have her own revelations about herself and Monroe as she tries to understand everything through her art.

Heller’s direction is very imaginative for not just the way she would fuse animation into live-action settings but also in re-creating 1976 San Francisco without doing a lot given that it’s made on a small budget as it is shot on location in the city itself. Heller’s usage of wide and medium shots doesn’t just play into the look of the city but also in how Minnie sees the world such as a shot of her on a bench looking at the city itself. There are some close-ups in the film as it relates to Minnie’s own reaction to herself or how Monroe tries to end the relationship when he realizes he couldn’t. The mixture of live-action and animation where much of the drawings are made by Sara Gunnarsdottir play into Minnie’s own imagination and view of the world where it has a sense of fantasy but also elements of surrealism. Even as the drawings Minnie would make would say a lot about herself and her growing awareness on sex as the animation would also express that growth in her as it relates to what she needs and why sex shouldn’t be complicated. Overall, Heller creates a sensational and captivating film about a young girl’s sexual awakening.

Cinematographer Brandon Trost does excellent work with the film‘s cinematography with its usage of stylish and low-key lights for many of the interior scenes including the ones at night along with the beautiful scenery for the exterior scenes in the day. Editors Marie-Helene Dozo and Koen Timmerman do amazing work with the editing with its usage of jump-cuts in some bits along with montages and other elements that help play into the humor and drama. Production designer Jonah Markowitz, with set decorator Susan Alegria and art director Emily K. Rolph, does fantastic work with the look of the home that Minnie, her mother, and sister live in as well as the look of Minnie‘s bedroom with her drawings as well as a poster of punk legend Iggy Pop. Costume designer Carmen Grande does nice work with the costumes as it play into the period of the mid-1970s with its bellbottoms, skirts, and the clothes that Monroe would wear including jogging shorts.

The hair/makeup work of Anouck Sullivan and Jennifer Tremont is terrific for the look of some of the characters in the hairstyle along with the makeup Minnie and her friend Kimmie would wear at a midnight screening for The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Sound designer Kent Sparling does superb work with the way some of the parties sound as well as in the sound effects that are created through Minnie‘s drawings. The film’s music by Nate Heller is wonderful as it is this mixture of rock and ambient music that play into the period of the times as the music soundtrack, that is assembled by music supervisor Howard Paar, features an array of music from the Stooges, Heart, Mott the Hoople, Nico, Television, T. Rex, Dwight Twilley Band, Banditas, the Rose Garden, Amy Raasch and David Poe, Labi Siffre, Barbara & the Browns, and Frankie Miller.

The casting by Nina Henninger is incredible as it features some notable small roles from Miranda Bailey and John Parsons as friends of Monroe and Charlotte, Susanne Schulman as the voice of the famed comic artist Aline Kominsky-Crumb, Quinn Nagle as a schoolmate of Minnie in Chuck, Austin Lyon as a popular junior named Ricky Wasserman whom Minnie would have sex with, and Abigail Wait as Minnie’s younger sister Gretel who becomes disapproving towards her sister’s crazy antics. Madeleine Waters is terrific as Minnie’s friend Kimmie who is just as sexually-outgoing while trying to understand the ideas of sex itself along with her own beauty. Margarita Levieva is superb as the lesbian Tabatha as this older woman of sorts Minnie would meet later in the film as she would take Minnie to a world that is very dark.

Christopher Meloni is excellent as Minnie’s stepfather Pascal who only appears in a few scenes as he is concerned about Minnie as well as Charlotte’s own well-being where he is totally aware of Charlotte’s major flaw as a person. Kristen Wiig is amazing as Charlotte as Minnie’s bohemian mother that is trying to live her life and be responsible as she has trouble trying to balance both where she eventually becomes suspicious towards Monroe. Alexander Skarsgard is fantastic as Monroe as Charlotte’s new boyfriend who finds Minnie attractive where he is reluctant in having sex with her as he tries to stop the relationship until things get a little crazy later on as it’s a performance full of charm and wit. Finally, there’s Bel Powley in a phenomenal performance as Minnie Goetz as this 15-year old girl whose interest in sex has her losing her virginity while recording her experiences through an audio diary and art where it’s a performance full of energy and wit that serves as a major breakthrough for Powley.

The Diary of a Teenage Girl is a sensational film from Marielle Heller that features an incredible performance from Bel Powley. Featuring a great supporting cast, a killer soundtrack, and a very inventive take on a girl’s exploration of sexuality. It’s a film that manages to do so much more for the coming-of-age angle as well a story about sex from the perspective of a young girl. In the end, The Diary of a Teenage Girl is a tremendous film from Marielle Heller.

© thevoid99 2016

Wet Hot American Summer

Directed by David Wain and written by Wain and Michael Showalter, Wet Hot American Summer is the story about a group of people attending a Jewish summer camp as they’re all hoping to do something on the camp’s last day. Set in 1981, the film is an exploration into nostalgia as well as adulthood and finding love. Starring Janeane Garafalo, David Hyde Pierce, Michael Showalter, Michael Ian Black, Marguerite Moreau, Paul Rudd, Elizabeth Banks, Bradley Cooper, Molly Shannon, Zak Orth, Amy Poehler, A.D. Miles, and Christopher Meloni. Wet Hot American Summer is a hilarious and heartfelt comedy from David Wain.

The film is essentially the story about a camp director and several staff members at a Jewish summer camp as they spend their last day looking for love or deal with their own issues in the course of an entire day. In this day, a lot happens surrounding many characters as they each hope to give this last day something for themselves and the kids to remember. There’s the camp director Beth (Janeane Garafalo) who falls for an associate astrophysics professor named Henry (David Hyde Pierce) as they both are unsure how to express their attraction towards one another. Meanwhile, a young camp counselor in Coop (Michael Showalter) has a crush on another camp counselor in Katie (Marguerite Moreau) who is dating the unfaithful Andy (Paul Rudd).

While the script that David Wain and Michael Showalter doesn’t have much of a traditional structure in order to leave room for the actors to improvise and do things that has nothing to do with any big storylines. Its lack of plot does allow the script to focus on the characters and their own desires to find love or something that can make their last day at camp a great one. A lot of which involved with people all finding something whether it’s the arts and crafts teacher Gail (Molly Shannon) dealing with her divorce, talent show director Gail (Amy Poehler) trying to create the best show, a shell-shocked Vietnam veteran in chef Gene (Christopher Meloni) dealing with demons, or a counselor in Victor (Ken Marino) trying to score with one of the counselors in Abby (Marisa Ryan).

Wain’s direction is quite straightforward in terms of compositions yet he does display a sense of looseness in the way he directs actors in a scene. Notably as he would create moments that do play into the idea of summer camp where it’s all about doing silly things as well trying to capture the sense of innocence that occurs in summer camp. While there’s a lot of storylines that occur between many characters, Wain does ensure that he finds the time to let many individual stories unfold while adding bits of humor to occur. Sometimes, there’s humor that is absurd in a few sequences which does lead to the climatic talent show where a lot happens. Overall, Wain creates a very funny comedy about the joys and exuberance of one entire day at a Jewish summer camp in 1981.

Cinematographer Ben Weinstein does excellent work with the film‘s colorful photography to display the beauty of the locations set in Maine to capture the beauty of the summer. Editor Meg Reticker does nice work with the editing by creating some unique rhythmic cutting to play out some of the comedy that occurs including a hilarious montage of what some of the camp people do outside of camp. Production designer Mark White, along with set decorator Lisa Scoppa and art director Bryan Hodge, does fantastic work with the look of the summer camp as well as some of the cars to make it look like it‘s 1981.

Costume designer Jill Kliber does great work with the costumes as a lot of it is casual as well as ragged to play out what people would wear in 1981. Sound editor Stephen Altobello does very good work with the sound to capture the energy and atmosphere of the activities that occur in camp. The film’s music by Theodore Shapiro and Craig Wedren is a real delight with its mixture of folk-based music and upbeat rock to play out the sense of nostalgia. Music supervisors Alison Chernick and Paul Parreira create a wonderful soundtrack that features music from Loverboy, KISS, Jefferson Starship, Kenny Loggins, and Rick Springfield.

The casting by Susie Farris is incredible for the rich ensemble that is created for this film. Notable small roles include Judah Friedlander as Gail’s ex-husband, Nina Hellman as the camp nurse Nancy, Kevin Sussman as the eccentric wannabe robot Steve, Joe Lo Truglio as the counselor Neil, Marisa Ryan as the slutty Abby, Samm Levine as the voice of the radio broadcaster Arty, and H. Jon Benjamin as the voice of a mixed vegetables can. Other noteworthy yet funny performances include Elizabeth Banks as the very sexy counselor Lindsay, Molly Shannon as the heartbroken arts and crafts teacher Gail, Amy Poehler as the obsessive drama teacher Susie, Bradley Cooper as Susie’s drama associate Ben, A.D. Miles as Gene’s apprentice Gary, Zak Orth as the fun-loving counselor J.J., and Ken Marino as the sex-obsessed Victor who hopes to get laid at the end of the day.

Michael Ian Black is funny as the very secretive McKinley whom J.J. and Gary wonder what he does and try to get him laid. Christopher Meloni is hilarious as the shell-shocked chef Gene who always says some very crazy things as he is complete denial about his issues. Marguerite Moreau is wonderful as Katie who finds herself connecting with Coop as she is having issues with Andy. Paul Rudd is awesome as the somewhat douchy Andy as he is a guy that just wants to be cool yet treats Katie very poorly. Michael Showalter is delightful as the socially-awkward Coop who tries to woo Katie while doing whatever to win her heart. David Hyde Pierce is fantastic as the astrophysics associate professor Henry who falls for Beth as he tries to find a way to win her while connecting with the kids at the camp. Janeane Garafalo is terrific as Beth as she tries to deal with the chaos of the camp while trying to win over Henry by studying astrophysics.

Wet Hot American Summer is a marvelous comedy from David Wain. Featuring a brilliant ensemble cast and lots of hilarious moments, it’s a film that truly captures the spirit of life during a summer camp. It’s also a film that isn’t afraid to be absurd or off-the-wall while finding time to be sweet and full of heart. In the end, Wet Hot American Summer is an extraordinary film from David Wain.

David Wain Films: (The Ten) - (Role Models) - (Wanderlust)

© thevoid99 2013