Dir. Lena Dunham
USA, 2010
Lena Dunham's premiere work has been said to be the debut of her authorial style, and while I agree that her style is quirky, mumbling witticisms, the overall plot of "Tiny Furniture" leaves something to be desired.
The story focuses on a young, newly graduated girl returning from four years at college to a home full of rules and responsibilities. Getting over a recent heartbreak, Aura (Lena Dunham) tries to figure out her new, post grad life.
To call the piece autobiographical would be most likely a gross understatement since her family in real life plays her family in the film as well as her friends. While I agree that a modernized "The Graduate" is well needed to portray this new generation's struggle with a post-academia lifestyle, Dunham's film barely scratches the surface of the existential anxieties of a graduate.
"Tiny Furniture" is a great lesson in dialogue. It's honest, real and quietly funny. Dunham is a fantastic dialogist. The plot was lackluster. I understood that there was a brevity wanted In the actions of the film, but that prods the question of why should an audience watch it? Yes, post graduate life is not the end all, be all; yet, for someone in that situation, it is. So, ideally, Aura's stakes should have meant everything to her, the plot, and the audience. Instead, Dunham focuses on the arguments between mother and daughter and sister and sister, not on responsibility and a loss of belonging, but on material possessions like food and wine. Perhaps these material possessions were to represent these abstract issues, but the connection was not strong enough.
Since the plot dealt with such trivialities as the main focus, my sympathy for the characters was at a loss. Aura is self-centered, selfish, needy and entitled. This might be a comment on the upcoming generation; however, I found it made her less likable as a character. Her mother even acknowledges her entitlement when talking to her friend Charlotte. Yet, that's reeled in as a joke and never comes up again.
Aura's naïveté as a character made her seem grossly immature. When Jed gets angry at Aura for kicking him out after letting him spend the week, she blames it on her mother. She then apologizes instead of berating him for his ungratefulness. The same "door mat" quality appears when she has sex with the chef, and he then tries to hide her from his girlfriend. Perhaps, it is because of her previous, young relationship and that she hasn't experienced such relationships yet; however, with her attitude of entitlement and selfishness this other layer of a lack of self worth is unfounded.
Overall, "Tiny Furniture" is a nice study in dialogue and debut filmmaking, but the character development and plot line are chaotic and confusing.
USA, 2010
Lena Dunham's premiere work has been said to be the debut of her authorial style, and while I agree that her style is quirky, mumbling witticisms, the overall plot of "Tiny Furniture" leaves something to be desired.
The story focuses on a young, newly graduated girl returning from four years at college to a home full of rules and responsibilities. Getting over a recent heartbreak, Aura (Lena Dunham) tries to figure out her new, post grad life.
To call the piece autobiographical would be most likely a gross understatement since her family in real life plays her family in the film as well as her friends. While I agree that a modernized "The Graduate" is well needed to portray this new generation's struggle with a post-academia lifestyle, Dunham's film barely scratches the surface of the existential anxieties of a graduate.
"Tiny Furniture" is a great lesson in dialogue. It's honest, real and quietly funny. Dunham is a fantastic dialogist. The plot was lackluster. I understood that there was a brevity wanted In the actions of the film, but that prods the question of why should an audience watch it? Yes, post graduate life is not the end all, be all; yet, for someone in that situation, it is. So, ideally, Aura's stakes should have meant everything to her, the plot, and the audience. Instead, Dunham focuses on the arguments between mother and daughter and sister and sister, not on responsibility and a loss of belonging, but on material possessions like food and wine. Perhaps these material possessions were to represent these abstract issues, but the connection was not strong enough.
Since the plot dealt with such trivialities as the main focus, my sympathy for the characters was at a loss. Aura is self-centered, selfish, needy and entitled. This might be a comment on the upcoming generation; however, I found it made her less likable as a character. Her mother even acknowledges her entitlement when talking to her friend Charlotte. Yet, that's reeled in as a joke and never comes up again.
Aura's naïveté as a character made her seem grossly immature. When Jed gets angry at Aura for kicking him out after letting him spend the week, she blames it on her mother. She then apologizes instead of berating him for his ungratefulness. The same "door mat" quality appears when she has sex with the chef, and he then tries to hide her from his girlfriend. Perhaps, it is because of her previous, young relationship and that she hasn't experienced such relationships yet; however, with her attitude of entitlement and selfishness this other layer of a lack of self worth is unfounded.
Overall, "Tiny Furniture" is a nice study in dialogue and debut filmmaking, but the character development and plot line are chaotic and confusing.