I reckon this one's my favourite film that I've seen in quite a while, probably at least since A Ghost Story or even Personal Shopper, neither of which it has particularly much in common with. It reminded me why I've always sought out films that affect me emotionally, and it manages that familiar, but always still remarkable, trick of evoking both sadness and lightness, optimism and kindness in a sideways kind of way which gives it, in the end, a quality of truthfulness about life. I wouldn't say I went in feeling particularly susceptible but there were not one but two scenes which made me a touch teary (Lady Bird and her ex-boyfriend Danny out back of the cafe; her mum driving alone to the airport).
There's a specificity to its scope (the life of 17-going-on-18 Christine "Lady Bird" McPherson in early 2000s Sacramento) and a universality of experience, with those two in fruitful conversation with each other. (I guess there was something similar going on in Frances Ha.) I liked that it takes the time to invest nearly all of its characters with emotional depth, complexity and back story, including some I wouldn't have expected, and I found the relationship between mother and daughter in particular very moving. Just lovely.
(w/ Hayley)
There's a specificity to its scope (the life of 17-going-on-18 Christine "Lady Bird" McPherson in early 2000s Sacramento) and a universality of experience, with those two in fruitful conversation with each other. (I guess there was something similar going on in Frances Ha.) I liked that it takes the time to invest nearly all of its characters with emotional depth, complexity and back story, including some I wouldn't have expected, and I found the relationship between mother and daughter in particular very moving. Just lovely.
(w/ Hayley)
