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10 September 2003

Thirteen

2003, United States

director: Catherine Hardwicke

Thirteen, Catherine Hardwicke's debut feature, is a vivid and moving story about the 4-month transformation of a young girl, Tracy, into a rebellious teen right before her mother's eyes. The catalyst for the transformation is Tracy's new friendship with Evie, the most notorious girl in school who introduces Tracy to the vices available to girls who want them. The three actresses, Evan Rachel Wood as Tracy, Holly Hunter as her mother, and Nikki Reed as Evie (who is also the movie's co-writer), are all excellent. Hardwicke's camera has the attention span and eye for detail of a teenage girl, but the pace of the montage slows as Tracy approaches her breaking point, a counter-intuitive technique that is especially effective late in the movie when the camera begins to tilt woozily. The climax plays without music as Hunter holds her daughter in a mother-grip that seems almost too real to watch.

Many scenes are microcosms that echo the story's larger themes, such as when the mother, a hair dresser, wants to confront her daughter but is stopped by an egg timer that requires her to tend reluctantly to a client's highlights. Through much of the movie, characters bounce around the interiors of small houses asking each other for privacy while pushing easily through doors that don't lock and gazing through windows that separate rooms, as if the family members are figuring out literally and figuratively when to pull away and when to cling.

At times I wondered why Evie's expert manipulation seemed to fit the plot so conveniently, and at times I wondered if the movie was pandering to fantasies about what wild teenage girls do when they're not supervised, stirring nearly every imaginable temptation into a titillating stew. The movie simplifies Tracy's emotional state by implying that her problems can be blamed almost completely on evil Evie and can swiftly be repaired by a tearful mother-daughter heart-to-heart in which the mother says exactly the right things. But to its credit, that final scene, which is played with absolute conviction by Hunter and Wood, shows the movie's integrity by acknowledging other elements that have contributed to Tracy's situation, which goes a long way toward eliminating doubts about the filmmaker's motives.

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Reader Comments

August 19, 2004, 01:41 PM

julia

hi im julia and i my self am thirteen and i thought this film was awesome a real eye opener i remember one day my mom and i were having an argument my mom said that school wasnt that hard well i was very angry with her so i got her to watch this movie and her out look on my life and what i deal with really changed some of the things in this film i have witnessed my self and i really think all parents should watch this es[ecially ones with daughters my father was shocked by it he was very disturbed by it now i myself havent had these kind of experiences thank god but i know ppl that have iv seen my friends deal with the pressure of being sexy and thin and to be perfect iv seen ppl shoplift becuz they thought it was cool and iv seen girls show there bodies in ways that are in no way nessasary but they think they have 2 be like that.this movie is blowing it some what out of porportion but its really quite accurate its important that parents know that we do deal with this and we need them theyre for us in this movie tracy(Evan Rchel wood) was in fact saved by her mom becuase she kept by her and didnt give up

August 20, 2004, 11:53 AM

davis

Hi Julia. Thanks for your comments. Thirteen is a really emotional movie. It's pretty amazing in that way. I'm glad to hear that you found it true-to-life, too. A movie like this sometimes seems a little over the top, and it makes me wonder if the filmmakers are, you know, trying to scare or shock people when really they should be true to their characters. I don't think most teens are into quite as many vices as the girls in this movie, but it's good to hear that it still hits on some basic concerns of thirteen year olds, even if it magnifies them a little to make them stand out.

You know, I also love the idea of teens making movies. (I know that Nikki Reed co-wrote this movie.) I'd like to see other movies about the experiences of thirteen year olds, and they don't all have to be exciting and tearful. A movie about normal, everyday life can be interesting if it's honest.

I saw this recent French movie called L'Esquive about some high school kids who are putting on a school play and who let their personal relationships get in the way of rehearsal. I don't know if you would like it, but it reminds me a little of Thirteen because it's very emotional, and it's totally immersed in the world of these high school kids.

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