TINY FURNITURE by Val Turner 15 Cert, 119 min; director; Lena Dunham; Starring Lena Dunham, Laurie Simmons, Grace Dunham, Jemima Kirke.
Lena Dunham wrote and directed this smart comedy drama about a media student, Aura, who after graduation returns to the family home in New York, unemployed, adrift, overweight and plain. It is obvious from the thread of conflict that runs through the film, that her successful photographer mother (Laurie Simmons) and pretty intelligent sister (Grace Dunham) see Aura as an intrusion in their perfect, trendy life.
As Aura drudges from one scene to another, allowing her self-centred friend Charlotte (Jemima Kirke) possible boyfriends Jed (Alex Karpousky) and Keith (David Call) wipe their feet as they walk all over her, you find yourself willing her to get a grip and take control.
In truth nothing really happens in the film and a standard beginning, middle and end structure does not apply. However, despite the fact that it feels that Aura is swimming through a bowl of blancmange, this is her life and it is this sludge that holds you steady waiting for something to happen. There are poignantly funny moments particularly the conflict between mother v daughter and sister v sister and Aura's pathetic attempt to get herself into the arty scene by posting a Youtube film of her in her undies washing her teeth in a fountain.
In fact Dunham spends as much time as possible in her underpants and baggy shirt, which does not flatter her unflattering shape. It is this self-effacing, actually closer to self-deprecating characteristic of Dunham that should feel refreshing but actually she does scrub up quite well and you are left irritated with her for not making the best of what she has.
The film was named as Best Narrative Feature at the 2010 South by Southwest Film Festival. It also won Best First Screenplay at the Independent Spirit Awards and New Generation Award by the LA Film Critics Association along with nominations for Best Cinematography and Best First Feature. Recognition has catapulted this young writer/director into the limelight and has since produced "Girls" which on the face of it appears to be a sequel to "Tiny Furniture" given that Dunham and her friend Kirke play very similar characters. It's not and you do wonder how much the audience can take of this hapless young woman.
Tiny Furniture is poignant and in these present economic times the story will resonate with graduates in similar positions. Perhaps they should all do what Lena Dunham has done and make a docudrama which may suck them out of the abyss and throw them into stardom.
Lena Dunham wrote and directed this smart comedy drama about a media student, Aura, who after graduation returns to the family home in New York, unemployed, adrift, overweight and plain. It is obvious from the thread of conflict that runs through the film, that her successful photographer mother (Laurie Simmons) and pretty intelligent sister (Grace Dunham) see Aura as an intrusion in their perfect, trendy life.
As Aura drudges from one scene to another, allowing her self-centred friend Charlotte (Jemima Kirke) possible boyfriends Jed (Alex Karpousky) and Keith (David Call) wipe their feet as they walk all over her, you find yourself willing her to get a grip and take control.
In truth nothing really happens in the film and a standard beginning, middle and end structure does not apply. However, despite the fact that it feels that Aura is swimming through a bowl of blancmange, this is her life and it is this sludge that holds you steady waiting for something to happen. There are poignantly funny moments particularly the conflict between mother v daughter and sister v sister and Aura's pathetic attempt to get herself into the arty scene by posting a Youtube film of her in her undies washing her teeth in a fountain.
In fact Dunham spends as much time as possible in her underpants and baggy shirt, which does not flatter her unflattering shape. It is this self-effacing, actually closer to self-deprecating characteristic of Dunham that should feel refreshing but actually she does scrub up quite well and you are left irritated with her for not making the best of what she has.
The film was named as Best Narrative Feature at the 2010 South by Southwest Film Festival. It also won Best First Screenplay at the Independent Spirit Awards and New Generation Award by the LA Film Critics Association along with nominations for Best Cinematography and Best First Feature. Recognition has catapulted this young writer/director into the limelight and has since produced "Girls" which on the face of it appears to be a sequel to "Tiny Furniture" given that Dunham and her friend Kirke play very similar characters. It's not and you do wonder how much the audience can take of this hapless young woman.
Tiny Furniture is poignant and in these present economic times the story will resonate with graduates in similar positions. Perhaps they should all do what Lena Dunham has done and make a docudrama which may suck them out of the abyss and throw them into stardom.