Weekly film- Lady Bird

Lady Bird is a 2017 coming of age comedy drama starring Sariose Ronan and written and directed by Greta Gerwig. The film tells the story of a 17 year old girl called Christine but has renamed her self Lady Bird and is about her experiences at high school and growing up. The film has not got a major plot but more just scenes about her life and her relationship with her friends and family but especially her mother. The film also stars Laurie Metcalf as her mother and Timothee Chalamet,who was nomiated for an Oscar this year for his performance in Call me by your name. 

The films structure is chronological and follows a year in Lady Birds life which is 2002-2003 and her transition from high school to college. The film is also shot very interestingly looking as though it has been shot on photographic film and having an overall nostalgic feel to it and makes Sacramento look like a very beautiful place. Colour is nicely used in the film as well with characters typically wearing bright colours being in quite bright and brightly lit places which adds to the sense of nostalgia in the film and mabey making older people looking back on their teens, having fond memories.

The script for the film is very witty and while there are not laugh out loud moments there is lots to chuckle at and the plot of the film may be gentle but everything is written very well. The dialogue is very realistic and helps carry the whole film. This is also helped by everyone's performances in the film as a whole.

All the performances are very good. As the title role Ronan is very believable and her chemistry with her friends is very genuine. Laurie Metcalf is also very good as her mother Marion and their relationship is very genuine. They are sometimes bickering at one moment and will have a serious conversation the next.  Everyone in the film as a whole has really good chemistry and you feel as though they are all genuine friends and can put yourself in their shoes.

Lady Bird is also a very good protagonist as she is not perfect and makes mistakes but is very likeable and everyone who watched the film will be able to relate to at least one aspect of what she is going through. It is also nice to have a female lead who is very relatable and not there just to be eye candy or be  a stereotypical character. Lady Bird is a very empowering character as she is very realistic and genuine and goes through situations every has to go through.  She has a lot of depth to her and the film as a whole just has lots of themes that will resonate with people, especially teens watching the film with things like relationships with family ,friends, finding out who you are and having to grow up and change.

The film was shot on a budget on $10,000,000 and made $48,700,000 and was shot on location in Sacramento and New York. The film was only meant to be a small independent film that was at a few film festivals and not have a commercial life but it got lots of attention and praise and slowly became more popular and got a wider and wider audience. Lady Bird also became a big contender at the awards being nominated for BAFTA's for screenplay, supporting actress and lead actress and also did well at the Golden Globes where it was nominated for screen play and supporting performance and won for best comedy or musical film and Ronan won for her performance. It was also nominated for quite a few Oscars for screen play, supporting actress, lead actress, best motion picture and director, for which Gerwig is only the fifth woman to be nominated in this category. 

Overall I really enjoyed this film  and it was a great directorial debut from Greta Gerwig filled with really good performances and a well-made movie. As well I think watching this film in a few years I will see different things in it and be able to get things I didn’t get the first time around.