About a Girl (2001) User Reviews (9)

Devastating portrait of a young girl and her doomed life.

[Havan_IronOak · 8/10 · 2 September 2002]

Shocking short-film about a young girl who's the product of a broken home and hopeless dreams of being a pop star. Her dad is unemployed and spends his time playing soccer while her mom struggles to make end meet.

One striking feature of this film was the contrast by the girl's fully Americanized rendering of the pop lyrics she sings and the thick Liverpool accent that she uses in everyday speech. (It required me to put on subtitles to understand what was being said)

As sad as the life that she describes is, I was still totally unprepared for the ending.

A shocking picture of a neglected teenager.

[damian_days · 7/10 · 26 February 2002]

I had to see this film twice to truly appreciate it. So many short films are BOOORIIING, and I guess I expected this one to be also, so maybe I was predjudiced. I paid little attention to what was being said so did not get into the film, but then suddenly I was hit by a real wake-up call at the end. SO, I went to see it again, and I have to say the performance and characterisation of the central character IS superb. The actress really makes this film a winner. The direction of her is very good, though I found the photography a little flat, but perhaps this is because it is meant to be gritty and realistic. Overall it's a wonderful short film, but it deals with a grim subject. Not a popcorn film.

Intriguing and shocking

[Horst_In_Translation · 6/10 · 29 July 2016]

"About a Girl" is a 10-minute British short film from 2001. It's the first work by director Brian Percival and it was a huge success winning him a BAFTA right away. Today, 15 years later, he is also an Emmy winner for "Downton Abbey". But back to this one here: This little film was written by Julie Rutterford and the lead actress is Ashley Thewlis, a relative of David. Basically for the entire films, we watch her walking and listen to a monologue from her. She talks about her family friends, past and possible future. In-between we see scenes with her and the people she is talking about during that very moment. Finally, the film takes a turn for the dark side that was a bit unexpected. I personally enjoyed the watch. Given the fact that we hear one person rambling randomly during its entirety, it was surprisingly interesting. I am not sure if it was really good enough to be winning all these awards, but I give it a thumbs-up and recommend the watch.

Humourous, touching and shocking portrait of the life of a working-class teenage girl in northern England.

[info-1094 · 11 March 2003]

This is a film that really makes you think about our culture and our society today.

We learn about the life of the Girl as she talks about her hopes, dreams and experiences.

Nothing will prepare you for the very shocking ending. It really is like a slap in the face! Or a wake up call...

An excellent piece of writing, directing and acting.

Profound, endearing, and ultimately shocking and very sad.

[garyahampton · 10/10 · 1 February 2011]

A film short that leaves a lasting impression. Initially about a teenage girl who narrates her story through what seems like a typically naive philosophy on life, still holding onto the dreams of childhood while experiencing the transition into the stark realisation of adulthood and the first understanding of disappointment. It manages to instill a feeling of charm and endearment while depicting the neo-realistic impressions of inner-city hardships. But gradually through the narrative we get a darker feeling that something is not as innocent as we think. The dénouement is profound and shocking, as unexpected as it is sad.

Like a good short story should be, this shows us enough of a window into a life that we come away knowing the young girl's life story, and we can hazard a guess as to her future. Hemingway's maxim that you only need show ten-percent of the whole story rings true. This film deserved to win awards; the direction and camera-work are superb, the script and acting extraordinarily good. Quite easily one of the best short films I've ever seen.

Harrowing

[thomasjay-2201 · 8/10 · 4 August 2018]

Depicting the life of a young teenage girl in a wasteland-esque urban British estate. With towering blocks of flats looming over the setting and the disadvantaged, awful circumstances that encase the girl the twist and the execution is brilliant, a truly grim end it's a great commentary on a modern society and some of its less glamorous issues

Found this impressive gem back after 16 years..

[mvd-1 · 10/10 · 4 January 2018]

I remember seeing this short film on television in 2001. The monologue was fast and in a dialect that I as a Dutchman could hardly follow. But the intensity and the atmosphere caught me right away. The twist at the and blew me away. Because I was distracted, I did not take note of the title or the origin of the movie, so I lost track of it. Now, 16 years later, I finally succeeded in finding the movie back through google, wikipedia and youtube. And again it hits me. Timeless and poignant drama, played by a gifted young actress..

Needs to be seen twice

[bob the moo · 23 August 2002]

A working class girls sings Brittany with her friends and talks excitedly about her life as she walks along the canal. However her story hints at hurts that go deeper than her talk suggest.

This short won the 2001 Bafta for best short film and was director Percival's first film after many years in commercials. The film starts with a well framed shot of the girl singing and dancing to a Brittany Spears song before going straight into a montage of her talking, hanging out with her Dad, on a bus with her friends etc. As it goes this is entertaining enough and quite interesting. The only weakness of it is that it feels like mix of two Fast Show characters – the `Brilliant' guy and the teenage girl.

However this is a minor complaint as the ending reveals the meaning behind much of her talk and the scenes we see. This really needs to be seen twice or followed by some thought to appreciate the significance of what has gone before the ending.

Thewlis is excellent. Managing to hold the screen well and be totally believable in the role. To one who is annoyed by loud teenagers singing pop songs on buses she did well to win me over.

Overall this is not an easy film to think about and does have a scene that many people will find upsetting (if only temporarily). While it feels aimless for most of your first viewing, a good performance by Thewlis is more than enough to hold the attention.

more to this than you think

[lyn50 · 27 December 2003]

As I was watching it, I kept thinking of the similarities to parts of The Fast Show (aka Brilliant! in the US): the "Brilliant!" walking monologues with Paul Whitehouse, and Caroline Aherne's teenage monologues.

But don't be fooled. There is much more to this short film than meets the eye at first, and you'll probably want to watch it again.