Rebecca Miller's 1995 film "Angela" is a very good movie that is equal parts emotionally haunting, environmentally spooky, and a certain kind of brutally honest all at the same time. This unique combination of elements, in my opinion, was one of the things that made this movie a very daring one, considering it was made by an American filmmaker.
The movie tells the story of the film's preteen namesake, Angela, and her younger sister, Ellie, as they try to navigate their childish world while in the midst of a unique and sometimes uneasy home situation. Their mother, May, is suffering from a mental illness (most likely some type of bipolar disorder) and though May and the girls have a caring and loving influence in their husband and father, Andrew, he spends most of his time working to keep everyone's heads above water. When May suffers a manic breakdown, causing Andrew to stand by his troubled wife's side, Angela and Ellie are left to their own devices. Angela and Ellie wander the area surrounding their home, spending most of the movie trying to make sense of her mother's illness and subsequent delusions believing that if they're able to do so, in Angela's words, "Mom will get happy again."
I realize that a lot of people saw unnecessary controversy in the somewhat brief scenes that showed the two young girls nude. I'm the first person to agree that we need to protect kids from pedophilia and exploitation, but as far as this movie goes, it's my honest belief that their nudity serves a real and, at the same time, artistic purpose for the plot and shouldn't be shamed or criticized. In one scene, the girls are shown partaking in a bizarre ritual of sorts while nude involving mud that Angela believes will protect them from the Devil, and in other brief flashbacks, the girls are shown in happier circumstances bathing and swimming with their mother, as I'm sure many real-life parents have done with their kids. If the scenes were blatantly simulating molestation or other abuse while they were nude, then I would see the point of people being put off by it. My point being, the young girls' nudity is perfectly acceptable to me here.
The standout performance of this movie, by far, comes from young Miranda Stuart Rhyne, who played Angela. She played her role with such dedication, with both cute childish charm and an eerie precociousness at the same time.
All in all, "Angela" is a very thought-provoking film that is definitely worth a watch, but only with an open mind.
The movie tells the story of the film's preteen namesake, Angela, and her younger sister, Ellie, as they try to navigate their childish world while in the midst of a unique and sometimes uneasy home situation. Their mother, May, is suffering from a mental illness (most likely some type of bipolar disorder) and though May and the girls have a caring and loving influence in their husband and father, Andrew, he spends most of his time working to keep everyone's heads above water. When May suffers a manic breakdown, causing Andrew to stand by his troubled wife's side, Angela and Ellie are left to their own devices. Angela and Ellie wander the area surrounding their home, spending most of the movie trying to make sense of her mother's illness and subsequent delusions believing that if they're able to do so, in Angela's words, "Mom will get happy again."
I realize that a lot of people saw unnecessary controversy in the somewhat brief scenes that showed the two young girls nude. I'm the first person to agree that we need to protect kids from pedophilia and exploitation, but as far as this movie goes, it's my honest belief that their nudity serves a real and, at the same time, artistic purpose for the plot and shouldn't be shamed or criticized. In one scene, the girls are shown partaking in a bizarre ritual of sorts while nude involving mud that Angela believes will protect them from the Devil, and in other brief flashbacks, the girls are shown in happier circumstances bathing and swimming with their mother, as I'm sure many real-life parents have done with their kids. If the scenes were blatantly simulating molestation or other abuse while they were nude, then I would see the point of people being put off by it. My point being, the young girls' nudity is perfectly acceptable to me here.
The standout performance of this movie, by far, comes from young Miranda Stuart Rhyne, who played Angela. She played her role with such dedication, with both cute childish charm and an eerie precociousness at the same time.
All in all, "Angela" is a very thought-provoking film that is definitely worth a watch, but only with an open mind.