Zelly and Me (1988) User Reviews

Rossellini and Lynch together again

[SnoopyStyle · 7/10 · 14 January 2024]

It's 1958 Virginia. Phoebe is a young orphan with a Joan d'Arc obsession. She lives with her wealthy grandmother Co-Co (Glynis Johns), nanny Zelly (Isabella Rossellini), maid Nora, and Earl the gardener. Willie (David Lynch) inherited the large gated mansion nearby. Co-Co is raising Phoebe with coercive methods. Zelly is horrified by her training like a dog and Co-Co's intention to break her of her willfulness.

I can't believe that this is what Rossellini and Lynch did together after Blue Velvet. I did wonder what if Lynch did the directing. At least, he likes writer/director Tina Rathborne enough to have her direct a couple of Twin Peaks episodes later. She seems to have faded from the scene after that. With this movie, she struggles to set up this world at first. It has to do with the grandmotherly Glynis Johns. Until the first incident, I didn't realize that she is a strict disciplinarian. That needs to be more absolute and the home needs to be more oppressive from the very beginning. I do feel for the little girl's struggles and her head-spinning turns. She doesn't know whether she's coming or going. It's the last part where this movie excels. I do wish for a final wedding scene. I was waiting for an elderly Rossellini to walk in and close out the film.

inhibited drama never really comes to life

[mjneu59 · 5/10 · 17 January 2011]

Small movies can sometimes yield large pleasures, but to appreciate this modest, independently produced drama you'll have to first forgive a lot of its shortcomings. The film is more well-meant than well-made, following the battle of wills between a dictatorial grandmother and a benevolent French governess over the welfare of a precocious, orphaned poor-little-rich-girl. But it's an unfair competition from the start: Grandma Coco can only express her affection for young Phoebe through jealous tantrums and cruel discipline, while governess Zelly (short for Mademoiselle) is all compassion and tenderness (and very little else).

The film is a peculiar mixture of lukewarm nostalgia and cold, upper-crust alienation, showing more forbearance than might otherwise be expected from a story about child abuse. But the meager budget isn't enough to convincingly recreate the (somewhat arbitrary) 1958 setting, effectively isolating the action in a dramatic vacuum. A little more background detail might have made it more involving.

Look for cult director David Lynch in a small role, alongside his then girlfriend Isabella Rossellini.

When Love Burns

[thao · 10/10 · 9 September 2000]

This movie has been a favorite of mine for a long time, but I don't know anybody else who likes it. What appeals to me is that the story is so simple but still so deep.

It is one of the biggest drama I have ever seen, but still, nobody dies, no ship goes down and so on. The drama is just the feelings of a little girl and a grandmother who "loves" her too much.

The film is very well acted (even Lynch is good) and the script is superb. There is an interesting reference in the film to Joan of Arc (the girl sees her self as Joan). In fact, the movie could easily bee seen as a Joan of Arc film.

It touched and melted my heart into tears.

[mpornkul · 10/10 · 3 October 2003]

The director did understood the work of heart. She brought both good and bad sides of human beings to the screen and show us how to live strongly in this world. Isbella Rossellini did her great job of being the best nanny ever. She made us believe in love and mercy that we almost think they were lost on the way to the modern world. I also fell in love with the girl in the story. She reminded me of the day when I was young.

An underrated film

[Ragnarok · 8/10 · 28 February 2000]

Zelly and Me is a very good movie about a little girl's relationship with her grandmother. Isabella Rossellini is wonderful as usual as the girl's nanny, Zelly. David Lynch also is excellent as Willie, Zelly's boyfriend. With the relationships between the four main characters, the movie manages to intelligently portray real motivations in why people act the way they do when it might seem more logical to act in some other way. Zelly and Me is at times touching, but not overly sentimental. Everyone in the cast gives convincing, realistic performances.

Finally found it!

[rxcrossfit · 10/10 · 21 March 2020]

I watched this movie in 1990 and I was just 14 years old but through the years this movie enters my mind. I tried to find it once before but couldn't find it. I'm curious to see it now that I am older. It was always a sad movie to me.

A deep but sad movie

[Darlawood80 · 10 August 2003]

I watched this movie once, but to me it's so sad. A strict grandmother who's only duty is to prevent her grandaughter from being rebellious like the girl's mother, never seems to provide enough love for her. When Zelly notices Phoebe burnt herself, CoCo fires Zelly, and pushes Phoebe into her parents bedroom because "she's now a big girl" and throws Phoebe's toys including her Teddy bear away. Zelly tries to rescue Phoebe, but at the last minute she and her boyfriend who attempted to kidnap knows it's wrong, and sends her back. Phoebe, must face the fact of living with her strict Grandmother, and with a pair of white socks makes a doll for herself. I do see some good parts in this movie, but it's way too sad for me to watch.

"A forgotten Gem"

[kevinkishin · 9/10 · 19 October 2020]

This film is simply written & performed, I remember this when I was a kid, I truly felt the characters feelings play out on screen.

Related to this movie so much as a child but I didn't understand why.

[Phantasiii · 18 April 2022]

I saw this when I was a youngster (8 or 9) on HBO way back in the late 1980s or early 90s. I was fascinated by what I was seeing. I felt for her, I didn't know why. I related to her situation, but I couldn't understand why. It wasn't until rewatching it much later in my life that i realized what was actually happening to that poor girl. Her grandmother would only dish out love for Phoebe when phoebe was in full compliance with her grandmothers wishes meanwhile her nanny, Zelly loved her unconditionally. Hence the tagline. "Zelly never made me choose between being loved and being me." Her emotions are in a rollercoaster of conflict between her two gaurdians. Which made me understand that I had a similar upbringing. My parents only gave me loving attention when they saw what they wanted from me and not who I was becoming. I understand this cannot be compared to children who suffered worse childhood trauma but this kind of treatment plays a factor on your mental health. This is how trust issues arise later in life, how one can become over attached to a superficial relationship, etc. And how you wonder why a child would come to harm themselves when they don't feel loved. In that kind of situation, feeling pain the same way one of you childhood hero's went through might be better than feeling nothing at all from someone who is supposed to love you unconditionally.

I wish this film was more recognized and had a wider audience. It's a shame it's not on dvd or bluray. I feel like this is a more important film to watch as a child of the same age as the main character Phoebe. The pain you see on screen is very real. It's deep emotional pain and that can shape you or harm you later in life. It did me.

If you can watch or find this movie I highly recommend it. Whether you endured similar circumstances or not, this will help you understand that that kind of mistreatment as child, even if adults like to say "this is nothing compared to-". This stuff hurts.

Total chick movie, that all men should watch...

[Bladerunner• · 8 May 2001]

**SPOILERS**Zelly and Me is just about the most total chick movie there has ever been. I say that in the kindest way possible for a guy to do. Most guys would rather have their groin set afire and run screaming through a pool of gasoline than have to sit through this movie. I admit that the first time I saw this I had visions of bolting for the door to ride my motorcycle to freedom. That said, let me tell ALL guys why they should unequivocally watch this movie - because unless you can sit through this movie, and unless you can get something out of this movie you will NEVER begin to understand women. As I just turned 39 years old, I realize that women, all women have a functional form of Multiple Personality Disorder (MPD). It is normal for all women to have several (or a lot more) women living inside of them. Which is why men get so confused when they try to understand women. You can meet a woman one night and she might be the wildest , carefree spirit you ever met. The next morning she might be a totally conservative, shy and quiet thing. While you are trying to figure out if you are hallucinating you remember this movie and you start to understand the excellent weirdness that is womanhood. Many facets of what it is to be a woman, what it is like to be a little girl, and how a grown woman can be like a little girl in one moment and a completely sexual adult in another are illustrated in this movie. In this film Zelly (played by Isabella Rossellini) bridges the gap between the cruel grandmother (CoCo) and the little girl (Phoebe) that she is in charge of as her nanny. If nothing else, this movie tries to show how women are so many people at once. As Zelly attempts to protect little orphan Phoebe, and keep her job by not offending her disfunctionally stern grandmother CoCo, she illustrates the strength of women. As she plays with Phoebe, (as childlike as Phoebe herself ) - interacts as an adult with CoCo - and becomes romantic with Willie (played excellently by David Lynch) we get to see the many sides of a woman and how we as men will NEVER understand the complexities of being a woman. As men, we are raised in the role of dominate persons. Our personality is so much more simple to understand because of this. We pursue things, we aggress, we penetrate life. Women have it so much more difficult. They want to submit, to acquiesce, but also they want to pursue and to dominate. Just think about how difficult it is for a woman to be daddy's little girl, to be a sexual person with a man, to be a mother, and to be someone's boss at the same time. ---------semi-spoiler alert-----------

One moment in the film that really illustrates this is when Zelly goes to Lynch after being fired by CoCo. They plot to take Phoebe, and Lynch moves in to kiss Zelly, she pulls away and says something like she doesn't want to kiss him with her cross on. He takes it off and she kisses him and later we find that they have made love. Here is a little girl who is supposed to be pure, daddy's girl that shouldn't want to make love, but at the same time she is a sexual person who desires this man. How complicated is that? WAY more complicated than being a guy. Can you imagine how messed up a woman could get if her parents weren't good at helping her work out all these seeming contradictions? Whew, thank god I'm a man! If you are a guy and you have any woman in your life - your mother, a sister or some woman that you are in love with, watch this movie. For them, for yourself, for that little girl you may one day have (or already have). It offers some insight into what it is to be a little girl, a woman in her prime and one past. It will also show you just how powerful women are, in a way that you will never understand, but should try as long as you live. It made me appreciate my mother, my sister and my wife a whole lot more. Ummm, after I got over the urge to grab the clicker and turn the channel to The Man Show, football, anything other than this. Chicks, I love 'em. I won't ever understand them, but it's a fun trip while you try. And the best part is they put up with us while we never get it.