20th Century Woman Movie Review

20th Century Woman (2016)
Written and Directed by: Mike Mills
Starring:  Anette Bening
                Lucas Jade Zumann
                Elle Fanning
                Greta Gerwig
                Billy Crudup


         

THE ACTUAL REVIEW

The film follows the life in 1979 Santa Barbara, California of Dorothea Fields (Anette Bening), a gregarious single mother who is in her mid-50s and is living with her adolescent son, Jamie (Lucas Jade Zumann) whom she no longer understands as day goes by because of his teenage culture. And with that reason, Dorothea asked for help of two younger women—Abbie (Greta Gerwig), a former art major and is in love with photography that is a boarder in their home, and Julie (Elle Fanning), a childhood friend and crush of his son—to help with Jamie’s upbringing.

One of the things that caught my attention in this film is the parts where Dorothea and Jamie are narrating someone’s life. Their voices are soothing to hear. It sounded authentic and I felt a lot closer to the characters in this film because of that. I saw a film months ago and there’s a particular dialogue saying that the use of inner monologues in screenplay/films are lazy and draggy, but in this case, it turned out to be alluring and genuine. It’s as if they’re inviting you to be a part of them, and that they are expecting you to listen to their stories.

20th Century Women’s direction is admirable, it’s a film where you will reminisce things from the past because of how the story is being narrated. Even the colors that were used in the film look like memories, it appears like you’re visiting these moments that are buried at the back of your mind and reliving it again. I really like the parts in where they edited the scenes in some kind of retro way— it’s edgy and cool.

All of the actors are brilliant, they are all natural and talented in this craft. I love how they portrayed their characters in this film, Anette being that kind of mom who just wants to know what’s going on with her son’s mind or just wants the best for him; Lucas with his portrayal of an angsty teenager but still well-composed. Their familial relationship in the film made me feel loved, I don’t know the reason why I felt that way but I find every scene of Dorothea and Jamie sweet, even if sometimes they don’t seem to understand each other. You could feel the love that she has to his son and also the stress that she can’t really connect to him once in a while. Anette and Lucas delivered great performances on screen.

Also, I never expected to see Elle Fanning in this kind of role, and I love her character in this film. She’s a stunning and promising actress in the Hollywood. Greta, a name that when you jumbled could form the word ‘great’, and that is her definite description. If I could just ramble everything I would say that I love these three main actresses here in this film. 

The way they are written and portrayed is not just to be in the film, but to be within-- to make the film alive and breathing. And the character William, which was played by Billy Crudup doesn’t feel like a supporting character here. Everyone is important. Every dialogue and movement that they do is significant. That’s how powerful this film is, because even though it doesn’t have any impactful or heavy conflict to solve, they brought us characters that we can deeply connect to.

This is the first time that I have seen a film that solely focus on its characters instead of the plot, and what surprises me is that it didn’t make the film less outstanding, rather it made the film more personal and realistic. You can compare it to some parts of your life that didn’t need ‘greater’ conflicts so it can be remembered. You just need people in your life that you can talk with, exist with, and live with, and still make that part of your life remarkable.