This was a decent movie, but I think Deborah Kampmeier's symbolism got lost in translation.
I really enjoy watching Dakota Fanning, but was unsure about seeing this film due to the highly publicized rape scene. Once I read the reviews that stated the rape scene was not graphic, I decided to go ahead and see it.
The story is okay. It's nothing special and has been done before....Bastard out of Carolina comes to mind when watching this film (and Bastard was a much better film). You basically have a young girl (Lewellen) who pretty much seems to run around in the deep south. Her family doesn't seem to have money, her father is an alcoholic and has a new girlfriend who he is beating (you later find out that his girlfriend is Lewellen's aunt), she has a grandmother who seems to have some sort of physical custody and is a stereotyped holy roller, who thinks everything is a sin, etc.
Lewellen is 12 and is obviously curious about sex; she has a little boyfriend and trades a kiss to see his "thing." Interestingly enough, I have read reviews that state Lewellen's character is overly sexual and a spoiled brat. Somehow, I do not get this from Fanning's portrayal. She just seemed like a little girl who was comfortable in her body, but not trying to be sexual.
Lewellen is obsessed with Elvis and I think part of the point of the movie was that she uses Elvis' music to find her own voice, but as I said before....I don't feel this translated well. Lewellen does get raped; Dakota did not play the scene well, which I actually consider a good thing since she shouldn't really know how to act a scene like that out. I have also read reviews that Lewellen's character "asked for it" and I don't see that either....she was simply a naive child who was taken advantage of by a teenage boy (played by Christoph Sanders, who is quite creepy in the role).
In the "Making of" feature on the DVD, Kampmeier talks about this being a coming of age story and all the snakes in the film symbolizing the church's oppression. To me, that was far fetched. I didn't really feel it was a coming of age story....as far as the symbolism, what lost me was after Lewellen is raped, she more or less withdraws into herself and stays in bed half asleep. All of these snakes are seen slithering and coiling on her (her imagination). The child is going to withdraw and feel terrible after a rape and the church has nothing to do with it.
I feel there were things missing from the movie as well....I am not sure if it was edited before DVD release or not, so maybe the flow would have been better before editing. I would be interested in seeing an uncut version if one exists.
I really enjoy watching Dakota Fanning, but was unsure about seeing this film due to the highly publicized rape scene. Once I read the reviews that stated the rape scene was not graphic, I decided to go ahead and see it.
The story is okay. It's nothing special and has been done before....Bastard out of Carolina comes to mind when watching this film (and Bastard was a much better film). You basically have a young girl (Lewellen) who pretty much seems to run around in the deep south. Her family doesn't seem to have money, her father is an alcoholic and has a new girlfriend who he is beating (you later find out that his girlfriend is Lewellen's aunt), she has a grandmother who seems to have some sort of physical custody and is a stereotyped holy roller, who thinks everything is a sin, etc.
Lewellen is 12 and is obviously curious about sex; she has a little boyfriend and trades a kiss to see his "thing." Interestingly enough, I have read reviews that state Lewellen's character is overly sexual and a spoiled brat. Somehow, I do not get this from Fanning's portrayal. She just seemed like a little girl who was comfortable in her body, but not trying to be sexual.
Lewellen is obsessed with Elvis and I think part of the point of the movie was that she uses Elvis' music to find her own voice, but as I said before....I don't feel this translated well. Lewellen does get raped; Dakota did not play the scene well, which I actually consider a good thing since she shouldn't really know how to act a scene like that out. I have also read reviews that Lewellen's character "asked for it" and I don't see that either....she was simply a naive child who was taken advantage of by a teenage boy (played by Christoph Sanders, who is quite creepy in the role).
In the "Making of" feature on the DVD, Kampmeier talks about this being a coming of age story and all the snakes in the film symbolizing the church's oppression. To me, that was far fetched. I didn't really feel it was a coming of age story....as far as the symbolism, what lost me was after Lewellen is raped, she more or less withdraws into herself and stays in bed half asleep. All of these snakes are seen slithering and coiling on her (her imagination). The child is going to withdraw and feel terrible after a rape and the church has nothing to do with it.
I feel there were things missing from the movie as well....I am not sure if it was edited before DVD release or not, so maybe the flow would have been better before editing. I would be interested in seeing an uncut version if one exists.