About a girl(s)
April 5, 2013 5:47 PM Subscribe
Movie recommendations for stories about young women (heroines) and their lives and times....
Ok, I am loving the show "Girls." I am fascinated by other portrayals of young women and their friendships (teens... early twenties... onward) in media, including "Heavenly Creatures" (Kate Winslet!) and "Freaks and Geeks," with its female-positive portrayal of teenaged character and her friendships. I have always loved "Veronica Mars," though that skews toward noir. Jane Austen's whole filmography is another highlight. Bridget Jones falls into this genre for me. What are other excellent, stylish but not stylized, portrayals of young women, featuring wit and honesty about individual characters and a larger social narrative that their adventures are yet in?
Bonus: movies with good dialogue- you could watch it with your eyes closed and it would still be good. Multicultural not necessary, but a plus!
Ok, I am loving the show "Girls." I am fascinated by other portrayals of young women and their friendships (teens... early twenties... onward) in media, including "Heavenly Creatures" (Kate Winslet!) and "Freaks and Geeks," with its female-positive portrayal of teenaged character and her friendships. I have always loved "Veronica Mars," though that skews toward noir. Jane Austen's whole filmography is another highlight. Bridget Jones falls into this genre for me. What are other excellent, stylish but not stylized, portrayals of young women, featuring wit and honesty about individual characters and a larger social narrative that their adventures are yet in?
Bonus: movies with good dialogue- you could watch it with your eyes closed and it would still be good. Multicultural not necessary, but a plus!
Clueless.
posted by duvatney at 5:51 PM on April 5, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by duvatney at 5:51 PM on April 5, 2013 [2 favorites]
This list of movies that pass the Bechdel Test may be useful.
posted by ourobouros at 5:54 PM on April 5, 2013 [3 favorites]
posted by ourobouros at 5:54 PM on April 5, 2013 [3 favorites]
Bend It Like Beckham.
posted by Flannery Culp at 5:56 PM on April 5, 2013 [8 favorites]
posted by Flannery Culp at 5:56 PM on April 5, 2013 [8 favorites]
The Last Days of Disco or Damsels in Distress, both by Whit Stillman. Either might cross a little two far into "stylized" based on your criteria.
posted by bcwinters at 6:04 PM on April 5, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by bcwinters at 6:04 PM on April 5, 2013 [1 favorite]
Anita And Me is a fun (but kinda serious) English film about an Indian-British girl and her English working class best friend.
Similar, but not really so much about race (though I think there's a class element, and I believe one of the characters is Jewish?), is Me Without You.
posted by Sara C. at 6:27 PM on April 5, 2013 [1 favorite]
Similar, but not really so much about race (though I think there's a class element, and I believe one of the characters is Jewish?), is Me Without You.
posted by Sara C. at 6:27 PM on April 5, 2013 [1 favorite]
I recommend anything by Nicole Holofcener, but especially Walking and Talking and Lovely and Amazing. Just a very interesting, detailed perspective on female relationships while also being very quirky, funny and touching.
posted by sweetkid at 6:27 PM on April 5, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by sweetkid at 6:27 PM on April 5, 2013 [2 favorites]
Along the line of Welcome To The Dollhouse and Ghostworld is The Slums Of Beverly Hills.
posted by Sara C. at 6:28 PM on April 5, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by Sara C. at 6:28 PM on April 5, 2013 [2 favorites]
Multicultural ... a plus!
Mi Vida Loca (1993)
posted by third rail at 6:41 PM on April 5, 2013 [1 favorite]
Mi Vida Loca (1993)
posted by third rail at 6:41 PM on April 5, 2013 [1 favorite]
I'm not sure my first recommendation qualifies in terms of the friendship angle, but Desert Bloom (American, 1986) and Letter to Breshnev (British, 1985) both set personal stories of their young female protagonists against larger social contexts.
posted by joseph conrad is fully awesome at 6:49 PM on April 5, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by joseph conrad is fully awesome at 6:49 PM on April 5, 2013 [2 favorites]
Webseries The Lizzie Bennet Diaries -- a retelling of Pride and Prejudice with more of a focus on the female relationships rather than the romance (the romance is definitely still there, but it's just not center stage for most of the series).
posted by pised at 6:54 PM on April 5, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by pised at 6:54 PM on April 5, 2013 [1 favorite]
Seconding Walking and Talking. It's about a close friendship between two women who have known each other since they were kids and the way their relationship changes and grows as one of them pairs up and gets engaged and the other is still struggling with being single. It's a funny, sweet, sometimes uncomfortably realistic portrayal of women's friendship, warts and all.
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 7:09 PM on April 5, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 7:09 PM on April 5, 2013 [2 favorites]
Foreign Letters, about a friendship between a Vietnamese and an Israeli girl adjusting to life in the US..
posted by Corvid at 7:12 PM on April 5, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by Corvid at 7:12 PM on April 5, 2013 [1 favorite]
Persepolis. Absolutely. And is a great movie
posted by edgeways at 7:32 PM on April 5, 2013 [4 favorites]
posted by edgeways at 7:32 PM on April 5, 2013 [4 favorites]
Sintel^ is a free-to-watch (or download) animated short film about a heroine on a journey.
posted by XMLicious at 8:59 PM on April 5, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by XMLicious at 8:59 PM on April 5, 2013 [1 favorite]
Crossing Delancey.
posted by mefireader at 9:15 PM on April 5, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by mefireader at 9:15 PM on April 5, 2013 [1 favorite]
Initially I was stumped and then my brain kicked in. This is going to be long. Thirteen - reasonably confronting.
Azumanga Daioh is a lovely anime series that doesn't feature magical transformations or really just about anything except some sweet girls at school. Japanese, but subbed/dubbed.
The Girl Who Leapt Through Time is awesome. Really awesome. Japanese, subbed/dubbed.
Only Yesterday, an animated movie about a young woman in a bit of a watershed moment. Very sweet but not treacly.
Just about anything directed by Hayao Miyazaki. Particularly "Spirited Away", "Princess Mononoke", his adaptation of "Howl's Moving Castle", "Nausicaa", "Whisper of the Heart", "The Cat Returns", "Laputa", "Kiki's Delivery Service", "Arietty". Much younger but still lots of fun, "My Neighbour Totoro" and "Ponyo".
Buffy. Yeah, I know, but really there's an awful lot about non-demons/monsters/stuff in there too.
Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants and its sequel, which wasn't quite as good but wasn't bad either.
A Ma Soeur, which for some reason has the title "Fat Girl" in English, which is just wrong (the French means "to my sister"). Also kind of disturbing.
In Her Shoes which was a lot better than it sounds like it would be.
Mona Lisa Smile which I saw a while ago and think of as a girls' "Dead Poets Society".
80s flashback and Julia Roberts before she was famous: Mystic Pizza.
A friend who has just caught me writing this post suggests Scream. I was dubious and he started quoting dialogue at me. Ok, I might stop there.
posted by Athanassiel at 9:30 PM on April 5, 2013 [4 favorites]
Azumanga Daioh is a lovely anime series that doesn't feature magical transformations or really just about anything except some sweet girls at school. Japanese, but subbed/dubbed.
The Girl Who Leapt Through Time is awesome. Really awesome. Japanese, subbed/dubbed.
Only Yesterday, an animated movie about a young woman in a bit of a watershed moment. Very sweet but not treacly.
Just about anything directed by Hayao Miyazaki. Particularly "Spirited Away", "Princess Mononoke", his adaptation of "Howl's Moving Castle", "Nausicaa", "Whisper of the Heart", "The Cat Returns", "Laputa", "Kiki's Delivery Service", "Arietty". Much younger but still lots of fun, "My Neighbour Totoro" and "Ponyo".
Buffy. Yeah, I know, but really there's an awful lot about non-demons/monsters/stuff in there too.
Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants and its sequel, which wasn't quite as good but wasn't bad either.
A Ma Soeur, which for some reason has the title "Fat Girl" in English, which is just wrong (the French means "to my sister"). Also kind of disturbing.
In Her Shoes which was a lot better than it sounds like it would be.
Mona Lisa Smile which I saw a while ago and think of as a girls' "Dead Poets Society".
80s flashback and Julia Roberts before she was famous: Mystic Pizza.
A friend who has just caught me writing this post suggests Scream. I was dubious and he started quoting dialogue at me. Ok, I might stop there.
posted by Athanassiel at 9:30 PM on April 5, 2013 [4 favorites]
The Craft.
posted by humboldt32 at 9:40 PM on April 5, 2013 [4 favorites]
posted by humboldt32 at 9:40 PM on April 5, 2013 [4 favorites]
I recently enjoyed For A Good Time, Call... and Pitch Perfect. I'm not sure if it holds up, but my favorite movie from middle school is Now and Then. Oh, and Whip It is also good. For classics, maybe Little Women or Anne of Green Gables.
posted by wsquared at 9:55 PM on April 5, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by wsquared at 9:55 PM on April 5, 2013 [1 favorite]
The 90's adaptation of Little Women starring Winona Ryder is basically the novel filtered through the 90's and early 2000's trend of female coming of age and "sisterhood" type stories. It's also not bad, as Hollywood adaptations of 19th century novels go.
Has Foxfire been mentioned?
posted by Sara C. at 10:03 PM on April 5, 2013 [1 favorite]
Has Foxfire been mentioned?
posted by Sara C. at 10:03 PM on April 5, 2013 [1 favorite]
Oh, I want to second Azumanga Daioh. That show really lightens your heart.
posted by duvatney at 10:57 PM on April 5, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by duvatney at 10:57 PM on April 5, 2013 [2 favorites]
Buffy, the series not the movie.
posted by Ideefixe at 11:27 PM on April 5, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by Ideefixe at 11:27 PM on April 5, 2013 [2 favorites]
Times Square.
More recently, Pariah.
posted by thetortoise at 12:30 AM on April 6, 2013 [2 favorites]
More recently, Pariah.
posted by thetortoise at 12:30 AM on April 6, 2013 [2 favorites]
the member of the wedding
posted by brujita at 5:17 AM on April 6, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by brujita at 5:17 AM on April 6, 2013 [1 favorite]
My So Called Life.
posted by Chenko at 8:40 AM on April 6, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by Chenko at 8:40 AM on April 6, 2013 [1 favorite]
Lost and Delirious
And I second Me Without You
posted by Brody's chum at 8:56 AM on April 6, 2013 [1 favorite]
And I second Me Without You
posted by Brody's chum at 8:56 AM on April 6, 2013 [1 favorite]
the journey of natty gann
joy luck club
tiny furniture
mermaids
fried green tomatoes
party girl
but i'm a cheerleader
posted by quiteliterally at 11:50 AM on April 6, 2013 [3 favorites]
joy luck club
tiny furniture
mermaids
fried green tomatoes
party girl
but i'm a cheerleader
posted by quiteliterally at 11:50 AM on April 6, 2013 [3 favorites]
A really good Russian movie from the late 70s/early 80s -- Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears -- following the lives of 3 young women. One of my favorites.
posted by I'm Brian and so's my wife! at 2:21 PM on April 6, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by I'm Brian and so's my wife! at 2:21 PM on April 6, 2013 [1 favorite]
You might like Fast Girls. Based on the name I thought it was going to be something totally different, but it's actually about a UK girls' running team.
posted by meggan at 2:21 PM on April 6, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by meggan at 2:21 PM on April 6, 2013 [2 favorites]
Grace of my Heart
Somersault
Hilary and Jackie
Puberty Blues
Fish Tank
posted by h00py at 6:26 PM on April 6, 2013 [1 favorite]
Somersault
Hilary and Jackie
Puberty Blues
Fish Tank
posted by h00py at 6:26 PM on April 6, 2013 [1 favorite]
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by KokuRyu at 5:50 PM on April 5, 2013 [2 favorites]