Dear Wendy Movie Review:


Von Trier and Vinterberg combine their considerable skills on this expertly told fable, digging into the thorny issue of global peacekeeping with a strong, affecting story.

Dick (Bell) is a teen with a tragic past who's committed to pacifism. So when he becomes obsessed with a small pistol, he develops a set of strict rules. Soon he has a group of like-minded friends (gun expert Webber, high-calibre shooter Owen, ricochet ace Pill, anxious youngster Angarano) who have "partners", handguns they carry but never brandish. They call themselves Dandies and care for their guns like lovers, only shooting them in a disused mineshaft they adopt as their "temple". But the arrival an outsider (Gordon) changes things.

Von Trier's fantasy version of America, based on movies and news reports, has never been this vivid. Credit to Vinterberg's startling realism, Anthony Tod Mantle's striking cinematography, and a cool score featuring the Zombies. The action is centred around the town square, which brings both a theatrical sensibility and the resonance of a Western. The constant, lurking presence of the gentle sheriff (Pullman) adds to this, especially when he begins to threaten the teens' secret society. This almost dreamlike feel is simply beguiling--we're drawn into the story's powerful metaphors without even realising it.

Bell gives a solid, introspective turn in the central role--fascinating, likeable, tormented by love and betrayal, and completely out of touch with what's really going on around him. Like most teens, really. His friends all have similar inner conflicts, and together there's a real sense of camaraderie and misplaced nobility, brought to life subtly by the superb cast. The way they slowly reveal the film's central ideas is remarkable--an almost natural progression from playfulness to curiosity to understanding to action. And adults in the town can't--and won't--understand them. So who's really more dangerous here?

You'll have to watch the film to find out who Wendy is; the film's narration is a letter to her, in which Dick pours out his angst in a heartbreaking way that gets increasingly cautionary and chilling. This is an engaging, beautifully filmed story that says things we badly need to hear.



Rich Cline

America’s obsession with guns is an inexplicable force which some might say is a major downfall of the country. Lars Von Trier and Thomas Vinterberg’s new film examines this obsession through the eyes of a group of pacifists, and despite their claims that there is no hidden agenda or message behind the film, the result is extremely thought provoking as well as entertaining from beginning to end. As well as the fantastic cinematography and a timeless script, Dear Wendy also features some of the best young talent working today, both for their performances but more impressively because of their choices of projects.

Dick has grown up in a dreary mining town of Estherslope, but even when he is old enough to begin working, he refuses to work in the mines. Instead Dick gets a job in the local grocery store as a stock boy. Life has no purpose for Dick and each day is the same as the last, until one day he purchases a toy gun. Dick plans on giving it to the grandson of his caretaker, but he gives the boy another gift instead. By chance a co-worker, Stevie, sees the toy and informs Dick that it is in fact a real gun. This knowledge sparks an interest in Dick, and he and Stevie decide to start a club of sorts. The club is filled with the young outcasts of the town who are unable or unwilling to work in the mines, and they are a group of pacifists who shoot guns in an abandoned mine. They call themselves The Dandies and they develop a set of rules and their own rituals and lingo.

Each member of the group gives a name to their gun, and they are treated as members of the group. Poems are written about the guns, and the guns are spoken to directly. The voiceover which carries through nearly the entire film is a letter written to a lost gun, the one which Dick bought as a gift. The letter is written as the group loads their gun in an ominous manner, despite the fact that the group has promised to never remove their guns in public.

Jamie Bell of the Billy Elliot fame stars as Dick, along with other recognizable young faces. Bell seems to have made a point of choosing interesting projects in the last few years, a path which is very similar to the one Jake Gyllenhaal took after his success in October Sky. The promise of Jamie Bell’s career comes more from his excellent choices in film rather than his talent, which is in itself quite remarkable. Bill Pullman co-stars as Krugsby, the town law enforcement. This role is not a typical choice for Pullman, but he fits in it perfectly.

The style in which Dear Wendy is shot seems slightly fantastical, with special effect shots to shot bullet entry and sequences of music video standards. As a whole Anthony Dod Mantle’s style is somewhat reminiscent to me of Trainspotting, or perhaps a bit of Three Kings. Nearly all of these sequences are played over the exact same song by The Zombies, which is somewhat of a theme song throughout the film. Surprisingly the song does not get old long after it should.

Dear Wendy was an official selection at Sundance Film Festival, an honor which does not necessary guarantee a film’s success, but I am certain that if given the chance this film will develop a following. There is something magnetic about the characters in this timeless town (although I was quite distracted by a large body spray ad in the window of one of the stores which gave a modern feel to one shot) which serves as the stomping ground for a group of kids who have felt prisoner in the place which they live. Message or no message, Dear Wendy is an entertaining as well as original film, and sometimes that is more than enough to ask for.



Ryan Izay

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