The Dead Girl...Live A Little...

The Dead Girl struck me as odd from the very first frame.  The imagery used in this film immediately stood out from the onset.  I noticed the subtle soundtrack which helped create the somber mood the images were leading up to.  A lonely woman in a vineyard filled with strangely twisted trees, a crow flying overhead, a coldness.  In an area of a vineyard where only stumps stand where once life flourished...our lady notices something in the grass.  The something being a dead girl.  The dead girl.  An absence of words allows the images to tell the story.  It is a concept that lingers throughout the film.

The woman’s name is Arden (Toni Collette).  Her sorrow follows her into the house, where we find that Arden cares for her recalcitrant mother (Piper Laurie).  The mother is angry Arden has reported the body, bringing Police into her yard.  The overbearing mother sheds some light on the source of Arden ’s brooding.  We follow Arden ’s character for a short while, experiencing her darkness (with some help from Giovani Ribisi) before moving on to the family of a missing girl.  They are a family dysfunctional from their loss and inability to heal.  The daughter Leah (Rose Byrne) examines the body found by Arden , noticing a birthmark that leads her to believe it is her missing sister.  The opportunity to have release from the bondage of a “missing” sister brings Leah out of her shell, before she learns that the girl is not her sister.  Her shadows close back in on her as we depart.

Carl (Nick Searcy) is a serial killer.  He lives with his bitter wife Ruth (Mary Beth Hurt), a woman weary of Carl’s constant wanderings.  It seems Ruth lives to fix Carl’s dinner, wash his clothes and run his storage unit business while he is off “galavanting around.”  Ruth mistakenly finds Carl’s trophies, memoires of the girls he has killed, in one of the storage units.  Ruth struggles with her decision at her discovery, acting in a seemingly illogical manner…but not necessarily unbelievable.  Ruth walks off into the darkness as we meet the mother of the dead girl, Melora (Marcia Gay Harden).  After speaking with Detectives, Melora sets off to find the place where her daughter lived.  We meet the dead girl’s girlfriend Rosetta (Kerry Washington) in a seedy motel where prostitutes ply their trade.  Rosetta helps Melora understand why her daughter left, and ends up introducing Melora to a granddaughter she never knew she had.  Although dramatic elements exist in this segment of the story, it ends with more promise than the others…

…moving back through time, we are introduced to the dead girl.  She had a name.  Krista (Brittany Murphy).  Krista wants to bring her daughter a gift for her third birthday.  Krista is a vibrant likable character with an outer joy that covers her tough interior.  She has an intensity that seems to flare from her.  Her intensity is both good and sometimes bad.  She has a John named Tarlow (Josh Brolin) that seems to be sweet on her.  But there are limits in any relationship.  Tarlow reneges on a promise to take Krista to see her daughter for her birthday.  Krista ends up on a broken down motorcycle looking for a ride.  She seems so full of life during her conversation with Carl.  And then the credits roll.

The Dead Girl takes an ensemble cast, placing them in inter-connected stories, to present a broad picture of events surrounding the death of a prostitute.  In doing so, the film introduces us to characters that are steeped in darkness.  The characters often test the boundaries of potency.  The characters are deep and well developed.  Many of them seem to have a reticence, opting to allow the dark imagery and facial expressions to provide connotation.  The lack of words provides an effective framework for the cinematography to aid in telling the story.  It is refreshing to see a film where the characters don’t have to provide constant dialogue to connect with the audience.  It is an effective approach that makes the message more powerful.  The actors were effective in employing this approach, delivering a multitude of excellent performances.  I found none of the actors to be lacking.

For fans of The United States of Tara, be prepared to see Toni Collette as you have probably never seen her.   There are disturbing traits assigned to her character that border on desiring to be raped.  Collette bares all, laying on her back fully exposed in an overhead shot.  Another sex scene involves Rose Byrne who shows some buttocks, but not much else.  But it is obvious that she is engaged in sex.  Krista likes the F word and uses it fluidly and habitually.  Many of the images involving the post mortem Krista are grisly.  She is cut up severely.  Close up shots reveal the extent of damage.  It is not a pretty sight.  Other questionable material in this film includes prescription drug use, fetishes, prostitution and a constant heaviness that might disturb younger viewers.  I would not allow my ten-year-old to watch this R Rated movie.  The Dead Girl would be appropriate for at least a teenage audience.

The Dead Girl appears to have been overlooked…at least in the mainstream movie industry.  With a cast that includes some of the best in the industry, I am surprised that this film did not reach a wider audience.  Karen Moncrieff created a masterpiece as writer and director.  It is a shame that she was not recognized for this exceptional piece of cinema.  The Dead Girl provides realistic edgy characters, amazing imagery, an interesting crossing of storylines and a star-studded cast.  How I have missed this film until now is beyond me.  Five stars out of a possible five.