emma watson | Life Vicarious

Perks Of Being A Wallflower – Official Poster – from IMDB.com

Perks Of Being A Wallflower (2012)

Director: Stephen Chbosky
Writers: Stephen Chbosky (novel), Stephen Chbosky (screenplay)
Stars: Logan Lerman, Emma Watson and Ezra Miller

Kids nowadays have it as rough as they did generations before ours. And as it has done before, film and literature tries to tell the hard stories of our lives and culture. Perks Of Being A Wallflower, based on the novel by Stephen Chbosky – who also wrote and directed the film – brings to life the story of a group of teens who try and survive their messed up and complicated lives. The film delves into how Charlie (Logan Lerman), Sam (Emma Watson), and Patrick (Ezra Miller) deal with the awful hand that life has dealt them. Each of them has a past, even at the age of seventeen they are dealing with the consequences of other people’s actions upon them. These young actors portray characters that are full of complicated emotions in such realistic ways. There was never a moment in the film when I didn’t believe their story. They gave heart and soul to the characters and created a passionate and powerful portrayal of the modern teenage life.

Perks Of Being A Wallflower isn’t simply a coming of age story, it is a story of how awful things happen to young people and they have to deal with them given limited support and the pressures of school and peers. It is full of dorky awkwardness and beautiful, innocent youth but deals with matters that are far beyond what you would expect of a teen flick. From issues of homosexual to depression to death, it handles these issues with a grace and honesty that I hadn’t expected and shocked me to tears. When people look back on this film in years to come it will mark this generation in the same way that The Breakfast Club marked the 1980s.

I felt completely and utterly spent after the film. It was so powerful that there was more than one person in the film who was sobbing by the end. It was heartbreakingly beautiful and was a reminder that we can transform our lives even in the most awful of circumstances. It was also a reminder of how important the support of people who love us are. The way we treat each other can either destroy or restore us.

Make sure you take a box of tissues with you as well as your laughter because it will make you both laugh and cry.

4.5/5

My Week With Marilyn – Official Poster – from IMDB.com

My Week With Marilyn (2012)

Director: Simon Curtis
Writers: Adrian Hodges (screenplay), Colin Clark (books)
Stars: Michelle Williams, Eddie Redmayne and Kenneth Branagh

My film critic friend (he has a proper job as a film critic whereas I’m a wannabe) remarked after we saw this film that society is intrigued with Marilyn but the majority of people will have never seen one of her films. I nodded my head as I tried to recollect whether I had ever seen her in anything other than documentaries. To my film-lover shock I realised I hadn’t seen anything but snippets of her in films. I had always been intrigued by film stars like Marilyn Monroe, Judy Garland, James Dean, etc who had died in tragic circumstances, but whether I had actually seen them act in anything was a different matter.

My Week With Marilyn is a soft, tortured look into the world that Marilyn lived and shows a little of what life could have been like for the star who tragically fell into the history books as a tortured soul. Michelle Williams’ portrayal of this starlet was a gorgeous representation and it felt faithful to the woman. Her coyness, emotion, and playfulness all came to brilliant light on screen and brought Marilyn back to life. Williams was able to transport me back into Marilyn’s time and illuminated the beauty and hypnosis that this woman possessed. It’s easy to see why men fell for her and wanted to rescue her by loving her.

The story itself was compelling but didn’t feel genuine at moments. I suppose there is an irrationality with things like love and Marilyn, but I didn’t feel like the story was plausible. Colin Clark’s choices seemed irrational and to be honest a little bit stupid. I mean I can understand that a man would fall in love with Marilyn but are men that stupid to not see that film stars like Marilyn don’t fall for PAs? I mean sure, in a perfect world, yes they might, but if you really think a film star that is in Britain for a short stint for a film, is married to someone else, and has a reputation for using the men around her is going to fall in love with you and leave everything for you then you are seriously deluded. And yes I know this is based on a recount from a living person but as a story goes I don’t see it as plausible. And I still think you’re an idiot for thinking Marilyn really loved you. Plus Emma Watson is gorgeous and why would you ever let that pass you by? All in all it was a good film and I was fully sucked in by the characters and the story but on reflection it loses some of its allure.