The Dead Girl (2006)
Dir. By: Karen Moncrieff
Starring: Toni Collette, Brittany Murphy, Marcia Gay Harden.
If you've lost faith in independent films, this is the movie to brighten your eyes. It was an even greater gust of fresh air to watch a film with such strong female characters, written and directed by a woman. I'm a walking, talking Jamba Juice FemBoost.
What's worth acknowledging about The Dead Girl is how far a strong script will go. The visual style and structure were left simple (usually the downfall of indie films), and created room to carve out each of the characters within their separate acts. There's a secret recipe of depth, variety, and drama that thread interwoven lives together in this genre, and Karen Moncrieff got it just right. Of course the subtle performances in this highly emotional setting carried the whole movie to sweet perfection, but all rely first on that delicate balance in the script.
Other amazing feats of The Dead Girl:
1. Giovanni Ribisi played his same character... but different! There was a ton of complexity to such a seemingly stock character.
2. James Franco's claymation face.
3. Brittany Murphy's accent. (What the hell?)
4. Avoiding on-screen violence in a movie about a violent murder. It ruins so many low-budg films and it would have ruined this one.
My advice: Don't go chasing artsy first-time director's indie films all willynilly now, but see this one.
