Saoirse Ronan depicts the highs and lows of adolescence.
Ronan plays Christina ‘Lady Bird’ McPherson in the 2017 film “Lady Bird.” “Lady Bird” demonstrates the struggle that we have all dealt with: adolescence.
Lady Bird discovers the struggles with her first relationship, losing her virginity, constant battles with her mother and trying to figure out who she is during her final year of high school.
The film is so organic and pure, which is the driving force in my admiration for it.
Ronan was a unique casting choice. The American-born Irish actress stands at 5 foot 6 inches and was 23 years old at the time playing the role of a 17 year old.
While she fit the role well, her height added to the awkwardness of her character. Everyone around her was shorter than her, and the guys were barely taller than her. This added to naturality of the film in an odd way.
The film was distributed by A24, known for its art house style that pushes it to have such an outstanding cinematography.
The array of tones and the movie’s color palette allows the audience to be immersed in everything on the screen.
There are small things that add to this such as the color of a house, the color of blinds or even the layering that was used in post-production on this film. Director Greta Gerwig wanted to shoot the movie on Super 16 mm film but was unable to due to budget constraints.
Each relationship between the characters is unique because we are meeting most of them with Lady Bird.
With Lady Birds first boyfriend, Danny O’Neil (Lucas Hedges), they have the chemistry, but it’s destroyed once she finds out he’s gay, which is surprising to the audience as well.
When she meets Kyle Scheible (Timothée Chalamet), she meets a personality different to her, probably annoying to the viewer.
Scheible is a know-it-all kind of guy, that thinks the government is always watching and is too cool for anything.
Lady Bird mimics his traits in an attempt for his approval and to gain the likes of their mutual friend, Jenna Walton (Odeya Rush).
During this part of her life, she leaves behind her best friend, Julie Steffans (Beanie Feldstein).
The way all of the characters mesh is not forced and having noticed these types of people in real life to some degree, it speaks to me seeing all of these type of characters portrayed.
Lady Bird loses her virginity to Scheible and finds herself disappointed after. That entire scene was genuine and convincing, with Scheible lying that he was a virgin and how quick the whole thing was for her.
Lady Bird’s mother, Marion (Laurie Metcalf), and Lady Bird constantly battle but somehow quickly get over and resume regular conversation at times.
Clashing with parents during puberty is typical.
Lady Bird and her father Larry (Tracy Letts) go behind Marion’s back to apply to out of state schools, but O’Neil slips up and says something in front of her mother.
Marion does not speak to her when she finds out. Lady Bird pleads to her mother to say a word to her, but she refuses. This part was one of two heartbreaking scenes in the movies.
It’s a hard thing to deal with because Lady Bird wants what’s the best for her, but due to her knowing that her family is dealing with finances, she should not have done it.
The other heartbreaking scene was when her mother drops her off at the airport but does not say anything.
As she drives off, her eyes begin to tear up, and she urgently drives back up to the airport, but by the time she gets back, Lady Bird had already left, and she falls in her husband’s arms.
The film does a great job presenting adolescence. To some, there could be a lot of beauty in growing up. People find out who they truly are and start developing a personality.
“Lady Bird” shows the art of that.
Rate: 4.5/5.
Cam’ron Hardy can be reached at cahardy@eiu.edu or 217-581-2812.
