God Help the Girl

although I'm sure I could have never been so obnoxious.

three young adults drone on about music and the meaning of life. despite the global recession, glasgow is a pretty peachy place to live; there's a distinct lack of food insecurity, job scarcity, impossible rent and heating bills. that guy who chats you up at the gig isn't a total skeeze. maybe this is is all on purpose; maybe it's supposed to be a fantasy.

I've been following b&s for quite a while, despite the twee label. reading thru old interviews many of the events of the fiim are in fact quite autobiographical; there's a depth to the music which has been earned. I got the distinct impression that ms browning did not have quite that same depth, furthermore she seemed to struggle to relate to her character. this is fine is mr murdoch's intention was to create a light romantic-comedy-musical, but if so, why include the darker elements? it's possible that I'm entirely too close to the subject matter. a painful watch, and, what's worse, poorly acted.

**edit** let's face it; this really wanted to be a film about ME but murdoch was either frightened of being so honest or didn't think it would sell tickets. as someone who had ME, I know what he is trying to say but won't say. it doesn't work! I can totally understand the compartmentalization at stake here: the need to exist in a state of semi-bourgeois lightheartedness; to lie; but the script betrays itself.

maybe some day someone can write a feature film on what it's like to have your life totally stripped away from you before age 20; to exist in a twilight zone of the barely living; to have to pretend that it's not happening to you and you are "only" anorexic and depressed. this wasn't it!