Location: Arizona
"Audrey’s Girls"
Written and Directed by Terry George
Produced by Terry George and Robert Wolders
Main Cast
Juliette Binoche (Audrey Hepburn)
Claire-Hope Ashitey (Zema)
Sahara Garey (Kassa)
Keke Palmer (Alem)
George Clooney (Robert Wolders)
Sissy Spacek (Christa Roth)
John C. Reilly (John Isaac)
Tagline: "N/A"
Synopsis: It is 1988, and an aging Audrey Hepburn stuns the world when she announces that she plans on retiring from making movies. Instead, she will devote all of her time to The United Nations’ Children’s Fund (UNICEF), with which she will travel the globe to feed starving children. The first of these missions was to Ethiopia. Traveling with her partner, Robert Wolders, her best friend, Christa Roth, and photographer John Issac, Hepburn is greeted by 500 emaciated children—nearly 200 more than she brought food for. Shortly after her arrival, she is pick-pocketed by a 14-year-old girl. She follows after her, until the girl is confronted by her two sisters. She gives back the money she took and invites her back to her home. Of course, the term “home” is used lightly. They live in a filthy, torn apart house that is missing a wall and has only one bed. Audrey talks to the girls, and gets to know them. The eldest is Zema, a wise but bitter 18-year-old woman that is the primary caregiver in the family, but is unkind to strangers. When she was 16, their parents were killed, and she has since been a prostitute to provide for the family. She has had a miscarriage, an abortion and, although she does not know it, she is infected with AIDS. The middle child is Kassa. Kassa saw her parents being murdered, and she has since been traumatized and has attempted suicide, cut herself and had unprotected sex. And yet, underneath it all, she is a sweet, caring young woman. The youngest is Alem, who, at 11, is smart, entirely optimistic and witty. Audrey feels an instant affection towards them, and, for the duration of her trip, she makes it her duty to look after them and provide for their long-term well being. However, the workers at UNICEF advise her to stop favoring the children, as they do not want such an image. But she cannot stand to see such lovely girls falling victim to poverty. As the film continues, Audrey and the three young women begin to bond and form a mother-daughter like connection. Soon, her friends that she is traveling with start to become suspicious of her intentions with the girls, and start to question her; as though she is committing a crime. The pressure grows, until, in the climax of the film, Kassa commits suicide after she finds out about Zema’s occupation. Audrey, stricken with grief, can barely move on. Her month in Ethiopia is reaching closure. But, when it seems as though she has lost everything, Zema delivers a moving speech explaining how Audrey’s trip has changed the lives of her and her sisters. Hepburn leaves not only with a feeling of accomplishment, but also with a strange, yet comforting feeling that the two girls will turn out alright.
What the Press would say:
I have just seen the most inspiring film of the year. I am talking, of course about the triumph that is Terry George’s “Audrey’s Girls.” The film tells the somewhat fictionalized story of Audrey Hepburn’s (Juliette Binoche) first trip with UNICEF to Ethiopia, where she meets three orphaned girls (Claire-Hope Ashitey, Sahara Garey and Keke Palmer). This simple plotline is the foundation for a story of life, death, friendship, family and hope. With its exquisite writing and visuals, this is the best film of the year by miles.
It is also the best acted. The young starlet from “Children of Men”, Claire-Hope Ashitey, is absolutely marvelous as Zema, the troubled mother figure. A typical young actress would have taken this role and relentlessly try to make the audience sob. But Ashitey, being wise, portrays the character as an actual human being with real-life qualities. As a result, we empathize with her more than anyone in the film. This performance will not only lead her to superstardom, but also to her first of many Oscar statuettes. It would seem as though no one would be able to top Miss Ashitey, but we are proven wrong when we see the lovely Juliette Binoche as the also lovely Audrey Hepburn. Only 43, Binoche has the task of playing a 59-year-old woman, and does so in the most genuine, believable way possible. Portraying such a widely known character must be very difficult, but she is able to do it with accuracy and style. Of course, it would be beating a dead horse to continue talking about Binoche’s performance, because unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve heard the rave reviews, so all I will say is that she is well on her way to Oscar #2.
This moving, sometimes funny (thanks to Keke Palmer’s adorable performance), always interesting film is, simply put, the best of the year. With simply astounding writing and directing and Oscar worthy performances from Claire-Hope Ashitey and Juliette Binoche, “Audrey’s Girls” can expect Academy Award nominations (and wins) in the following categories…
Best Picture
Best Director (Terry George)
Best Actress (Juliette Binoche)
Best Supporting Actress (Claire-Hope Ashitey)
Best Original Screenplay (Terry George)
Best Film Editing
Best Cinematography
Best Makeup
Best Art Direction
No comments:
Post a Comment