Hollywood Gerwig Lady Bird Review

Review: The Cinematic Marvels of Greta Gerwig’s Lady Bird Andrew Hu
“The only exciting thing about 2002 is that it’s a palindrome,” the titular protagonist complains to her mother in the opening scene of Greta Gerwig’s mesmerising directorial debut. In the year of 2002, seventeen-year-old senior student—née Christine McPherson— christens herself ‘Lady Bird’ in a Catholic high school in Sacramento, California, the hometown from which she inches to escape to “where culture is, like New York.” From start to finish, Gerwig’s solo flight is a riveting, poignant and brutally honest coming-of age dramedy that seamlessly captures the last bittersweet moments of adolescent life on the cusp of dawning adulthood, and offers a sincere, terrific roller coaster of a tale for fanatics and casual watchers alike.
For Lady Bird, Gerwig’s big-screen perfection is the result of a wholly original, carefully crafted script rooted in her Midwestern upbringing. She balances between the wacky and the sentimental—some parts are riddled with lively
argument and clever comebacks; others emotionally charged with heartbreak. The film itself has been described as semi- autobiographical. But in an interview with Gerwig, she laughingly concedes that “nothing in the movie literally happened in my life, but it has a core of truth that resonates with what I know.” Even without the troubled adolescence, first-time director Greta Gerwig blends stark realism, from authentic dialogue so free-flowing in nature to the turmoils of everyday teen life, with both witty and cringeworthy—in a good way—humour that always hits home run.
‘Lady Bird’ is full of unbridled bounce. Despite such a quality, from the very beginning of the film, we know that she has personal hurdles: from insecurity and pipe dreams to self-esteem and, in some cases, boy troubles. What Gerwig has achieved was the near-impossible—she has moulded from scratch a bona fide, fleshed out character whose predicament is, if not at once, entirely familiar and relatable and so uniquely quaint; it’s a character so alive with personality and played with such side-splitting intensity by Saorirse Ronan that the viewers will chuckle, face-palm, and shed a tear as she braves obstacle after obstacle. The universality of such teen experiences is what the viewers will hold on to till the very end. Gerwig has thus beautifully translated a colourful snapshot of teen vulnerability and exuberance onto the big screen for all of us to enjoy.
This brings us nicely to cinematography. On the whole, Lady Bird feels like a memory. We see brief glimmers of life-changing events and feel the heart, the wit, and the tenderness that infuse every shot, all in a blink of an eye. Because of Gerwig’s sensitive direction and technical prowess with subtle camerawork, each frame has her own dynamic touch and drips with the joys of wondrous unpredictability. The timeless feel of Lady Bird gives it its fast, zippy, and sprightly pace. We experience a succession of wonderful vignettes of turbulent adolescence and we view them like they're gold. It’s enthralling. It’s raw. And it’s real. Like the page-turning motion of a terrific read, Lady Bird is never plodding, nor does it while away its runtime by wallowing in shallow storylines. It flies by, constantly surprising us at every turn with plot twists in Gerwig’s colour-drenched masterpiece.
Although Lady Bird, for the most part, traces the titular protagonist’s final episode as a teenager, in many ways it’s Marion McPherson’s, her mother’s, story to boot.
Marion is overbearing and judgemental, while ‘Lady Bird’ dwells in a world of ideals. Their relationship brims with conflict, grudges, and a whole lot of bickering. On the surface, their bond seems antagonistic, almost toxic in nature. We see them flinging insults and taking the mickey out of each other, when really what hides beneath their rocky bond is an underlying sense of unrequited love. We marvel at Gerwig’s cinematic subtlety at painting this powerful mother-and-daughter dynamic—what was at first vicious rows between the two soon transitioned, with the snap of a finger, into something radically different when both mother and daughter picked out the same dress at the same time on a shopping spree. It’s these minutiae that tug at our heartstrings and keep us wanting for
more.
With that in mind, Gerwig has truly graced the realms of cinema with her quirky voice, breathing fresh air into the coming-of-age genre and steering clear of any cliches in this well- trodden territory. Lady Bird exceeds all expectations: it’s nostalgic without being schmaltzy; it’s poignant without being contrived. There is no doubt that Greta Gerwig has helmed a divine comedy of unparalleled brilliance while also weaving in a heartfelt love story between mother and daughter. Lady Bird is one heck of a bumpy ride. Cinephiles will scream praise. The casual watcher will show fondness. You too will love it.