THE DEAD GIRL
US, 2006, 92 minutes, Colour.
Toni Collette, Piper Laurie, Giovanni Ribisi, Rose Byrne, Mary Steenburgen, Bruce Davison, James Franco, Mary Beth Hurt, Nick Searcy, Marcia Gaye Hardin, Kerry Washington, Brittany Murphy, Josh Brolin.
Directed by Karen Moncrieff.
The Dead Girl is a very interesting drama, a film that did not receive wide release. This is a pity, because some of the performances are effectively master classes. This is particularly true of the first of the five stories which involves Toni Collette, Piper Laurie as her mother and Giovanni Ribisi. It is she who discovers the body of the dead girl. The following stories are all linked with the girl, who appears in the final film, portrayed by Brittany Murphy. The other stories involve the woman who did the autopsy, the parents, the mother (played excellently by Marcia Gaye Hardin).
Each of the stories is to some extent self-contained. However, by the end of the film we have built up the story of the dead girl. The performances are particularly good from a wide group of character actors.
The film was directed by actress Karen Moncrieff who also directed some television episodes as well as a few feature films including The Blue Car.
1.The title, indication of theme, the death and its consequences?
2.The California settings, the open countryside, the towns, Los Angeles? Authentic? The score?
3.The effect of the structure: the glimpse of the death of the girl, the variety of characters, the generic names, the revelation of characters and the consequences of their contact with the dead girl, the final story of the girl herself?
4.The cumulative effect, emotion and understanding?
5.The stranger: Arden, her age, experience, alone, loneliness, finding the body, taking the necklace? Her relationship with her mother, her dead sister, the mother in bed, abusive and humiliating, her needs? Arden calling the police, the examination of the body, the questions? Her mother’s reaction, wanting to keep the police out? Arden in the supermarket, people looking at her? The young man, talking with her, her celebrity, wanting the date? Her apprehensiveness? The makeup and her mother’s reaction? Her mother’s final humiliation, Arden leaving the house, meeting the boy, the tentative sexual encounter, her wanting to run away? Finding the dead girl, becoming a TV celebrity for a moment, that bringing the boy to her – and a future?
6.The Sister: the mother and father, their grief at the missing girl, planning the photos for the notices, their desperately continuing the search? Emma, her work, the morgue, relationship with the staff, caring for the young woman, the birthmark, thinking it was her sister? Her communicating this with her parents, her mother refusing, the issue of the girl’s eyes? Her friend, confiding in him, his support, bringing him home, the sexual encounter? Her breaking free from her parents, accepting that her sister was missing and dead?
7.The Wife: a hard woman, the difficult marriage, at home, her complaining, her husband and his being non-committal, wanting to go for drives, not being pinned down? The work, the husband leaving, the substitute not coming in, the wife doing the work, the men with the storage, discovering the boxes, the contents, the revelation of the killer? The wife in herself, character, her sadness, her husband’s return, feeding him, the confrontation and her leaving? Her burning the evidence?
8.The Mother: being notified about her daughter, the discussions with the police, information about the motel, the registrar at the motel, her going to the apartment after paying? Meeting the prostitute, their discussions, the mother’s grief, wandering the motel, the photos? The prostitute and her harsh descriptions of the dead girl, the background of the stepfather’s abuse, the mother not knowing, the mother and her saying she did not know? Taking the girl out for the meal, the explanations, the photos? The bond? Finding the daughter, giving the money, taking the child away, the bath, the little girl wanting her mother, the care for her? The character of the prostitute, becoming warmer with the mother, a friendship? The future and the invitation of the mother to contact her?
9.The Dead Girl: in herself, her character, her lifestyle, the birth of the child, the interactions with her boyfriend, his character, work, using the girl, love, arguments? The girl sharing the apartment with the prostitute, the prostitute’s work, the photos, the clashes? Her sadness, her decision to visit her daughter for her birthday, taking a taxi, the taxi driver’s willingness – and driving her to her death?
10.The overall effect of putting the jigsaw together? The overall picture? And the significance and importance of all the details?
