For those of you who were big Juno fans, I recommend to you The Tracey Fragments. It’s in all, or at least many, ways different from Juno with the exception of Ellen Page, who plays a nearly identical character, and the theme of a young adolescent high school outcast coping with her life. Its differences are refreshing though, since the film is much darker and more experimental. It’s a Canadian film, shot almost exclusively in Ontario and features a soundtrack by indie rock fav’s Broken Social Scene.
The film’s premise begins by introducing us to Tracey Berkowitz, just another 15 year old girl with lots of problems. Her dysfunctional parents are too strict whenever they even seem to care about her. Everyone at school calls her the “It” and rejects her. She falls for a new, rebellious boy named Billy Zero. Amidst all these things, when we meet Tracey she’s wrapped in a blanket on the back of a city bus and she tells us she’s looking for her little brother.
The story unfolds in a nonlinear fashion, which isn’t new or unfamiliar to the independent cinema scene, but what’s interesting about this film is, as the title suggests, it is fragmented. The entire film is told through fragmented windows, sometimes repeated moments we have seen or that foreshadow and sometimes it’s just another angle of the current scene. Ultimately for a first viewing this makes the film a little tough to watch, even if you have the stamina or patience for it, it’s almost exhausting to try and capture everything that’s taking place on the screen. For many, including myself, the fragments feel a little obnoxious at first and you won’t really feel like sitting through a whole film of this, but it’s sink or swim. You may adapt to the style or decide it’s not for you.
In the end, I think you’ll feel as though you haven’t wasted any precious time. The ending is fairly typical in indie film fashion in that it’s fairly open ended, leaving you to try and forge some answer from the clues it has provided. You may even appreciate the style of the film. For some felt that the fragmented style was unnecessary and just an artistic attempt that failed. It is interesting nonetheless and a recommended watch.
2 comments:
I am a little curious with your comparison to Juno. Would you say that either of the two films is better than the other? From what you have written on “The Tracey Fragments”, it seems that you have a taste for this film a little more so than Juno. I have not see either film, however I get the sense that Juno is a more typical film with common styling, even for an indy film, whereas this one tackles similar issues with are more “experimental” approach as you put it. Is it actually more experimental, or more artsy? I wouldn’t say however that the fragmented style is necessarily the right way to go however unless the pieces all fit together in the right fashion, and the film isn’t confusing. I hope to watch these two back to back as soon as I get a chance because this seems to be a very interesting comparison that you have made here.
yeah they would definitely be an interesting watch back to back. And dont get me wrong, I enojoyed Juno, I guess i'm just rooting for the underdog here since Tracey Fragments is much less friendly to the masses. I'm not sure where one would draw the line between experimental and artsy, but I say experimetal in that, although we've encountered the frame within the frame style before, it's never been like this. This film experiments with natrrative structure in a newer way, which i appreciate it for. I personally thought it was a refreshing new idea, but I'd read in other places where some people weren't so sure. So, anyway, yeah check out the two films. Theyre both great and share a few similarities, such as being back to back Ellen Page movies which I find interesting as well, but otherwise there's a night and day difference. Juno is that borderline mainstream independent we've discussed in class and The Tracey Fragments I see as more an actual underdog independent that not everyone can appreciate. enjoy!
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