Cast: Jamie Bell, Bill Pullman

Director: Thomas Vinterberg

Screenplay: Lars von Trier

Running time: 1 hr 40 mins

Genre: Indie/Drama



CRITIQUE:

As the first full-length film viewing in our Film Studies lecture, DEAR WENDY is an unusual choice. Perhaps it coincides with the fact that this is an unusual film, with subtext of controversy running underneath its belly. What’s interesting is that this can be viewed in different levels. For one, this is Lars von Trier’s social commentary, or perhaps allegory, on the gun-toting culture of the West, specifically America; a genre to which he is no stranger at, after his brilliantly provocative DOGVILLE, which touched on the strands of violence in society. Secondly, it’s a tale of bond and friendship between misfits of a neighbourhood, whose unspoken desire is belongingness in the community. Sort of THE BREAKFAST CLUB made Western with guns. And thirdly, this can be viewed as a lonely young man’s love affair to his gun, aptly named Wendy.


Pretentiously slow-burning at times, riddled with fantastical elements (adolescent fantasies involved dressing up in their so-called “Temple” and unsheathe their guns like swords) and contrived narration, but nevertheless instilled with surprises and character humanity. We concede to believe that their guns are their allies, their best friends, companions that bolster their confidence and shield them with bravado – a picture that chillingly resonates into the modern times of teenage gang violence. Jamie Bell, renowned for being BILLY ELLIOTT, gives a restrained performance as Dick, the naive, resentful adolescent honcho of The Dandies, a moniker baptised to the gang of outsiders. Points also to originality, as it takes a darkly romantic view into these teenagers penchant for holding guns and evoking their rites of passage almost religiously, save for a climax that is perhaps BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID inspired, where a massive shoot-out takes place in a square. It’s over-the-top, somewhat absurd, but it somehow makes sense to what the story is trying to convey.


VERDICT:

It bathes in the sepia tone of Western films, sulks in the angst of adolescent flicks, and basks in the cinema of gun-culture; hardly involving, contrived at times, but a stimulating watch.



RATING: B