Harder than Lara Croft (Girlfight (DVD))

Member Name: miriamb

Product:	Girlfight (DVD)
Date:	22/09/02 (186 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: pls see op

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Despite the title and content of Girlfight, this film is not exclusively 'one for the girls', nor does it fall into the sexualised high-glamour genre of the sexy lady kicking butt. So if that's what you're after, this aint for you.

Girlfight was made in 2000, written and directed by newcomer Karyn Kusama, and ostensibly follows the story of troubled teen Diana Guzman, played by Michelle Rodriguez. The film opens with the introduction of school glamour-bitch Veronica being forced to admit that she has had a fling with Diana's friend Marisol's object of desire. The scene follows with Diana attacking Veronica in the school corridor. The pair are dragged apart and Diana next appears in the Principal's office, where it emerges that this was not the first explosion of her violent temper. Diana is told that if she gets into one more fight, she will be suspended. Throughout, Diana maintains a cold, blank exterior and is to all intents and purposes a girl without self-belief, ambition, or future.

Shortly afterwards we meet Diana's father, played by Paul Calderon, whose further appearances are seldom without a bottle of beer. The relationship between Diana and her father is one of the most powerful aspects of the film, a sense of extreme distance and tension between the characters is evident despite the claustrophobic proximity in which they live.

Also in the family home is Diana's younger brother, Tiny (Ray Santiago). Tiny is a quiet, artistic kind of kid, and their father's solution is to send him to boxing training to toughen him up for the real world. Their fathers perceived prospects for Diana and Tiny are obviously limited, and even more so for Diana.

In the third scene, she is sent to collect Tiny from the gym at which he is training, and her initial impressions of the place intrigue her. This is a precisely executed form of released aggression, and so Diana approaches her fat
her with the intention to join her brother in
training.

The story develops with her pursuit for excellence in the hands of Tiny's trainer, Hector (Jaime Tirelli). The setbacks are frequent, but her determination proves to be her primary advantage. As to whether she makes it to the big time with the satin shorts and the glamourous card girls, well, you?ll just have to watch the film, but this story is definitely more about the journey than any potential destination.

A large element of Diana's journey is the blossoming of her girly side, the teenage crush on boxer Adrian, played by Santiago Douglas, first kiss... you get the idea. Sounds sappy, and I guess it is a bit, but the context and the way in which it is delivered make it seem real. A sense of genuine honesty pervades the film and ensures that it at no point descends into the unbelievable glory story of similar films. This aint no Rocky, nor is it a glossy Tomb Raider. This is an involving and engaging story of one girl's journey to essentially develop her own self-esteem. The fact that it is boxing that helps her get there just makes it all the more interesting to watch, as she necessarily challenges the prejudices about the suitability of the sport for women.

The rawness of the minimal gym and the human conviction of the trainers to their sport add a real edge to the film. Filmed as much on locations as in studio-built sets, and with a cast composed of professional boxers as much as professional actors, this is what I meant by the honesty of the film as a whole. This is an independently made film, and as such, the plot and performances have to be a cut above many Hollywood blockbusters, the budget simply didn't allow for great effects or massive custom built locations to carry the film.

I really enjoyed Girlfight, the performances were excellent throughout, and the sense of reality heightens the plot immensely. The film runs to 106 min
utes, pruned down from the first cut that was over 3 hours. Inevitably, there are certain holes in the story due to the editing, certain aspects could have been developed further, some facts I questioned on the second or third viewing. The fact that the story involves you to the extent that it the questions are lost the first time you watch is a credit to the film as a whole, and certainly shouldn't put you off.

The film won joint Grand Jury Prize and Best Direction at the 2000 Sundance awards, and Kusama won the Young Cinema Award at Cannes in the same year. Personally, I would highly recommend it, it's an uplifting and inspiring story, a classic young hero(ine) pursuing her dream in the face of adversity. As I said earlier, it's a journey film, a rites of passage or personal development story line above anything else, so don't expect a gushingly triumphant ending. Do watch it though, it makes you think about your personal dreams and ambitions. You end the film wanting to win them all.

Incidentally, this film is certified 15. This isn't due to graphically sexual or violent scenes, but as far as I can tell, relates to the language, which is strong in parts. Saying that, one scene in particular is rather violent, but not gratuitously so.

As a DVD release, it's a bit short on extras. You get the standard scene selection and Directors commentary. Further to that it's just the text-based Filmographies, a short Featurette that sadly only consists of scenes taken directly from the movie and the occasional (very) brief interviews with a few of the actors and the director, and the Trailer. The lack of substance to the extras is actually quite annoying - for example, in the Commentary you're told that about the scenes that were edited out for the final cut, and it would have been a nice touch to have included them on the DVD release. Similarly, Kusama sings the praises of Rodriguez and Douglas, both
making their cinematic debuts, and discusses the chemistry that allowed their scenes to work so well. It would have been nice to have had even short interviews with them so they could tell their own stories, as it were. In this sense, the extras are a bit frustrating, and you wish you'd not known about the deleted scenes or the way in which the various actors related to each other.

In fact, there is more information contained on the Flash website at http://www.sonypictures.com/movies/girlfight/ than appears to have been included on the DVD. If you're interested at all by this film, it's worth taking a looking at the detail contained there.

Overall then, a great film. Rent it for the brilliant story and performances and nice soundtrack, but be prepared for disappointing extra features. Girlfight doesn't appear to be available on video so you'll just have to put up with the superior picture and sound quality that comes as standard with the DVD experience, and make do!


Region 2 release
Running time 106 minutes
1.85:1 (whatever that means)
Widescreen 16.9 letterbox format
5.1 Dolby Digital sound
Certificate 15
http://www.sonypictures.com/movies/girlfight/

Best price £9.99 (inc. P&P) from www.play.com

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