Top spot

Normal left us a long time ago

Tracey Emin's debut feature film, I liked how it was filmed with a DV cam giving it a documentary like feel, the girls seem to be improvising their lines again making the film feel more realistic, with the mix of super 8 as well it adds a dream like presence which is present even more when the girls escape or disappear into their own worlds in some terms in a museum, others in egypt or simply alone dancing in a disco, the Q & A with the girls at the beginning their frank remarks and lies seem to evoke the true essence of a teenage girl such as the love bite which one girl says was caused by a hoover or the other girl who calls herself a slag and says she don't care about kids branding her so

The film paints a picture of the fragile period of youth and how frail and gullible some girls can be whilst growing up, it shows the bleakness of margate where there is not much to do, and the girls frankly talking about the expeditions they embark on with boys. The darker side of things are also explored such as boys taking advantage like Rape, teen pregnancy, self abortion, suicide are covered

I like this film for its lo-fi element, it's mix of cameras, its improvised speech, reality and escapism the mix of the two the former tricking you could this be real? the latter reminding you its purely a film, misunderstood when released, I am glad it is what it is. Why should Emin be forced to mirror traditional narrative movies adopted by masses of film directors who fall into place and part of the system for a conservative audience which consumes variations of the same thing