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'Lady Bird' Is Immaculate

The film is as honest and relatable as a coming-of-age film can be.

By FrancescaPublished 6 years ago 6 min read
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The official trailer for Lady Bird has amassed 9.2 million views on YouTube.

I had first heard of Greta Gerwig's directorial debut Lady Bird from a Facebook ad sharing an article about how "everyone should see 'Lady Bird' with their mothers" in late October 2017. I recognized Saoirse Ronan from 2015's Brooklyn, a film which had made an impression on 16-year-old me. I decided to read through the comments, as I usually do on many Facebook posts, and found people raving about this indie film that I had not even seen a trailer for. The whole premise of the film that I gathered from that advertisement - Catholic-schoolgirl-has-a-rocky-relationship-with-mom-while-in-her-senior-year - appealed to me as I was in my first quarter of university and had just finished high school, so I made a mental note to do as the article said and watch it in theatres with my own mother when I went home for the holidays.

Unfortunately, I did not get to see this film with my mother when I went home. I pushed for the family and cousins visiting to go see the brilliant Coco instead. A good choice, but I still wanted to see this elusive film that seemed so relevant to my situation (I had seen several more ads on Facebook over the past two months). When I returned back to Seattle for school, my second cousin pointed out a theater run by the Seattle International Film Festival and remarked that she had always wanted to attend it. As we passed by, I saw LADY BIRD on the marquee and instantly suggested that we go see this film in that theater. My cousin agreed and I made plans with her later to go see the film later that week. She later cancelled, so I made plans to go with a friend instead, insistent on finally watching this movie.

Attending this specific SIFF theater was expensive and would not have been worth the cost if it had not been for the film. As an independent film, Lady Bird fit the space better than if the film had been seen in a commercial theater, which may have added to my overall thoughts about the film.

Lady Bird stars Saoirse Ronan in the titular role of Christine "Lady Bird" McPherson (coincidentally the last name of my beloved high school German teacher) with Laurie Metcalf and Tracy Letts as Marion and Larry McPherson respectively. Lucas Hedges and Timothée Chalamet star as Lady Bird's love interests, Danny O'Neill and Kyle Scheible. Rounding out the principal cast is Beanie Feldstein as Julie Steffans, Lady Bird's best friend.

Set in 2002 Sacramento, CA, the film opens on Lady Bird and her mother traveling, then following the two of them as they argue in the car. Lady Bird dramatically jumps out of the moving car when her mother offends her by suggesting that she's not smart enough to go to school away from home. Lady Bird breaks her arm in the incident, and her injury stays with her for the first half of the film. Her rocky relationship with her mother, however, stays with her for the film's entirety. Right off the bat, this tension can appeal to any audience-goer, as no one is exempt from experiencing a difficult relationship. Along with this relationship with her mother, Lady Bird faces other issues at home as well, including her father's depression and lay-off, and having to live with her edgy college-graduate brother and his girlfriend.

With the issues at home giving Lady Bird a rocky foundation, she also has to face low grades and reconcile them with her dreams of going to an out-of-state university. There are moments in the film when she is faced with this incompatibility head-on, such as a visit with her advisor, that leads her to work towards putting on a fake persona to impress the most popular girl in school, Jenna Walton (Odeya Rush). This plan eventually catches up to her in the end, as the viewer expects it to. In addition to Lady Bird struggling to keep up facades, she chooses to take part in the school play, partially in an act of defiance to be set apart from the rest of the school community. She falls in love with Danny O'Neill (Hedges) over time and they are in a relationship until Lady Bird finds Danny making out with another boy at the cast party at the start of their play's run. She moves on, introduced through her friendship with Jenna and job at a cafe to the mysterious Kyle Scheible (Chalamet) to whom she eventually loses her virginity to (and later breaks up with after she finds out he lies about his virginity). The couple still goes to prom together, with Lady Bird changing her mind on the ride over and going to visit her ex-best friend Jennie (Feldstein) and the two repair their relationship, eventually deciding to attend prom with each other.

Lady Bird graduates high school, applying to out-of-state universities against her mother's wishes. She is waitlisted at a school in New York City but prepares to attend school locally, learning how to drive and picking up a second job over the summer. She is later admitted to the New York school, and her family does whatever they can in order to send her to there. Lady Bird arrives at school, finds discarded letters from her mother, and attends a party, where she is sent to the hospital due to excessive drinking. Lady Bird exits the hospital the next morning and attends a church service, later calling her mother and leaving her a voicemail, essentially repenting of all of the mistakes she made over the course of her senior year and attempting to reconcile her relationship with her mother.

The overall story of Lady Bird is incredibly well-written. It is an overall display of common struggles faced by teens of any generation. Gerwig hit it out of the park with the wit and emotion exuberated through her screenplay. The actors were perfectly cast, with each actor bringing a stellar performance to every aspect of their character, allowing the audience to immerse themselves in the world of Lady Bird. I could never say enough about the incredible Saoirse Ronan. She brings honesty and relativity to every scene. Laurie Metcalf and Tracy Letts are simultaneously unfamiliar and are also my own parents at the same time. Lucas Hedges and Timothée Chalamet are two sides of the same coin, with Hedges offering an emotional character and Lady Bird's first love, while Chalamet provides welcomed comic relief as that one mystery guy present in every teen situation.

Aesthetically, Lady Bird offers suburban scenes that hit way too close to home for me, a native of the Southwest who grew up in locations surprisingly similar to early 2000s Sacramento. The coloring, costuming, sparse makeup and hair design, and middle-class sets provide a sense of familiarity. I was only 3-4 years old in 2002-2003, but this film could have been set in modern day and you wouldn't be able to tell the difference.

I seem to be having some difficulty putting my love for this beautiful film into words. It is incredible, stunning, relatable, hilarious and emotional. Lady Bird is me, you, us. Her family is our family; her problems are our problems; her story is our story. Lady Bird transcends time, barriers, people and is our world today. It is a film that will stand alone for forever, never to be matched. I must say it is my favorite film, a title well-deserved. It is truly flawless and perfect. There will never be another like it, and there doesn't need to be another like it. Go, watch Lady Bird once, twice, three times, more.

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About the Creator

Francesca

Hello! I'm Francesca, a student in West Texas. I love classic film, musical theatre, and all things British. Latter-day Saint. Co-owner at Baked Alaska Clothing Co (find us on Teespring!).

Tumblr: francesblogs

YouTube: francesvlogs

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