Now that the Toronto International Film Festival is about to begin I can finally tell you why you have to see the Tracey Fragments. It is a daunting task. It is, by far, the best film I've seen this year. It is one of the best film's I've seen in the last decade and it is Bruce McDonald's finest work to date. This will not be the film you are expecting, it will be what film was meant to be, with audio, video and narrative all bringing their unique gifts to create a single point of view. Each contributing not only to the story, but giving insight into the mind of the storyteller.
Prepare to be fifteen again. Not fifteen in a glossed over, romanticized way but fifteen at it's most disturbed, confused and insecure. Fifteen and dealing with events that hopefully very few fifteen year olds (or people of any age for that matter) will ever have to deal with. This is the world you will live in the Tracey Fragments.
Imagine that you are sitting on a bus. On that bus with you is an obviously deeply disturbed, 15 year old girl dressed only in a shower curtain. Over the course of the bus ride you hear her story. You get bursts of information, most of it seemingly incoherent and inconsistent at first. It is laced with fantasy and melodrama and, as the title of the film suggests it is fragmented.
The on screen imagery will be disturbing to most people at first, as images are layered over one another, join each other on screen, are repeated over and over. You have to let go of real life and let the images and sounds wash over you. This is film, and as it should in film, the images and sounds are what bring the story home and make it real and this, as I said, is a story told by a deeply disturbed 15 year old. The frantic, disjointed imagery is a reflection of that mind, sorting through events, separating fantasy from reality, digesting and allowing small bits of truth at a rate that it can deal with them.
As you ride along, listening attentively, the pieces of the jigsaw puzzle begin to fall into place, and the sad and horrifying truth is revealed. This is the magic of the Tracey Fragments. It is a spellbinding mystery, it is a horror film if you are a parent and ultimately it is drama and storytelling at it's highest and most honest level.
When the story ends you will be left in shock. Shock at what has happened to the girl and shock at the level of artistry with which the story has been told. Every element of this film, the script, the cinematography, the brilliant score by Broken Social scene, the editing, the acting, the locations etc., combine to form a single point of view and tell a story from the protagonists unique and authentic point of view.
If Hollywood has not completely forgotten about art and storytelling, if they have not replaced recognition of artistic achievement with concerns about box office receipts and Entertainment Tonight appearances then the Tracey Fragments must be considered for multiple Academy Awards - not just 'Best Foreign Film' but 'Best Picture', 'Best Adapted Screenplay', 'Best Director', 'Best Actress', 'Best Editing', and 'Best Original Score' at the very least.
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2 comments:
"It is one of the best film's I've seen in the last decade and it is Bruce McDonald's finest work to date."
Even better then Hard Core Logo?
Great review Justin, I'm eager to check this film out.
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