The 13 years old Aviva Victor is a heroine of Todd Solondz's new film "Palindromes". She is the only daughter of the loving parents but she is not happy and the only thing she passionately wants to become a mother and to have a lot of babies. She gets pregnant at 13 and forced by her mother goes through an abortion. As the result of the procedure gone wrong, she will never be pregnant again. Aviva runs from home and enters the world populated by very strange, often dangerous but always multi-layered characters. What makes this movie rather unusual, Solondz chose eight different actresses (in age, color, and shape) to play Aviva. The writer/director explains the experiment by his desire to make as many women and girls as possible identify themselves with the girl in the search for love and understanding. Aviva is not a real girl, really, she is an archetype of a woman who longs for love and tenderness and who is absolutely innocent in her search for them, often in the wrong places with the wrong strangers.
As for the title, a palindrome is a word, phrase, verse, or sentence that reads the same backward or forward. In the way, it is a metaphor for life. The word dies just after been born when it reads letter by letter backwards. It is self destruction. The same applies to Aviva (her name is a palindrome, BTW) she and the world around her are static, she is in the vicious circle and she can't break it. You can not move on if you just walk in circles. Even if it seems that the world around Aviva and she always change (that's why she's got so many different faces), she is still the same no matter if she is a little girl, an awkward teenager, a heavy black woman or frightfully youthful Jennifer Jason Leigh.
Even though, I respect Solontz's decision to tell the parable rather than the story of one particular girl, I think that choosing eight actresses was one of the "Palindromes'" weaknesses. The idea was interesting but not all of the performers were up to the task and the constant switching of the actresses was rather distracting.
I admire Solondz for his fierce uncompromising bravery he knows that his films will never be the crowd pleasers - but he keeps making them.. I am not sure if I like "Palindromes" but I keep thinking about it, and I know I would - for long time.
As for the title, a palindrome is a word, phrase, verse, or sentence that reads the same backward or forward. In the way, it is a metaphor for life. The word dies just after been born when it reads letter by letter backwards. It is self destruction. The same applies to Aviva (her name is a palindrome, BTW) she and the world around her are static, she is in the vicious circle and she can't break it. You can not move on if you just walk in circles. Even if it seems that the world around Aviva and she always change (that's why she's got so many different faces), she is still the same no matter if she is a little girl, an awkward teenager, a heavy black woman or frightfully youthful Jennifer Jason Leigh.
Even though, I respect Solontz's decision to tell the parable rather than the story of one particular girl, I think that choosing eight actresses was one of the "Palindromes'" weaknesses. The idea was interesting but not all of the performers were up to the task and the constant switching of the actresses was rather distracting.
I admire Solondz for his fierce uncompromising bravery he knows that his films will never be the crowd pleasers - but he keeps making them.. I am not sure if I like "Palindromes" but I keep thinking about it, and I know I would - for long time.