- Directed by Sally Potter
- Starring Timothy Spall, Alice Englert, Oliver Platt, Christina Hendricks, Elle Fanning, Annette Bening
- Genre drama
- Country UK/Denmark
- Language English
If you only see one coming-of-age film this TIFF season, skip The Perks of Being a Wallflower, and scoop up tickets to Ginger & Rosa. Set in 1960s London and against the Cuban Missile Crisis, the story follows an inseparable teenage friendship that implodes upon itself in the wake of revolution, sex, love, betrayal, and death. Real and complex, the script combined with Elle Fanning’s inspired performance does great justice to the intense anxiety of growing up in a world perpetually falling apart at the seams. “The whole world could be blown to pieces any minute,” fears Ginger throughout the film–as much a political statement as a personal one. Today, Ginger’s cold war era anxieties could easily be replaced with fears of terrorism, fiscal cliffs, and the litany of crimes headlined on the evening news. Seeped in 1960s feminist politics that are (sadly) just as relevant decades later, Ginger & Rosa will touch anyone who can’t, as hard as they may try, feel at ease with this world. There’s no bowtie happy Hollywood ending here, and that’s just what makes it so very good.
12 p.m., Sun., Sept. 9, Cineplex Yonge & Dundas 6; 9:45 p.m., Fri., Sept. 14, TIFF Bell Lightbox 1
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Sabrina Maddeaux is Toronto Standard’s managing editor. Follow her on Twitter at @sabrinamaddeaux.
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