Ever notice whenever a work of art is referred to as "experimental" it usually sucks? Not so here, if "The Tracey Fragments" is indeed experimental, I'd have to say the experiment produced successful results. The gimmick here is that the entire film is presented with multiple cameras showing different "fragments" of Tracey's memories.
In the DVD bonus feature, director Bruce McDonald says he used this method to convey the nature of memories. And true, if you think about it, how often do you have a memory that plays out like a linear story? Most often memories jump back & forth, focus on different objects, change perspective and become intertwined with other memories.
If you're ready for a disorienting experience like this, then you'll enjoy this movie because, while being difficult to digest, it's ultimately a rewarding experience. Tracey (expertly played by Ellen Page) is a 15-year-old outcast who is constantly ridiculed & abused by schoolmates, parents and strangers. The movie recounts 2 or 3 intense days in her life, beginning with the story of her missing brother, jumping back to a few days before, and eventually coming full circle and then beyond. While the story itself is linear, the narration (through Tracey's memories) is anything but linear, and the multiple cameras add a deeper dimension of confusion.
But whether you grasp every individual camera & scene or not, the story unfolds clearly, and by the end we are aware of what happened with a few dramatic surprises to boot. Although I hate the phrase "coming of age story" because it conjures up images of extreme boredom and sappiness, this movie is a great, gritty, powerful coming of age story. It's a lot like how I would imagine the book "Catcher in the Rye" with its seemingly random episodes that are glued together by a common theme. In the case of "The Tracey Fragments" (much like Catcher) the theme is about a young adolescent who sees himself/herself as the protector of a younger child; however, the protector herself is coming apart from the strain of protecting innocence while losing her own innocence.
Although the character Tracey is a lot like Ellen Page's character in "Juno" as well as her character in "Whip It", don't expect the same quirky humor because "The Tracey Fragments" is much darker and sometimes disturbing. You might crack a smile at some scenes, and she does have a few great sarcastic lines, but mostly this is a heavy drama with an emphasis on weird.
There aren't many films I can compare this to, but one that comes to mind is the excellent "Man of the Year" (2002) starring John Ritter, a movie featuring about 2 dozen actors and 2 dozen cameras filming simultaneously in real time. Another film I'm reminded of is "Pi" (1998) the directoral debut of Darren Aronofsky who also did "Requiem for a Dream", "The Fountain" and "Black Swan". If you like dark films like those with unusual visual styles, give this one a whirl.
In the DVD bonus feature, director Bruce McDonald says he used this method to convey the nature of memories. And true, if you think about it, how often do you have a memory that plays out like a linear story? Most often memories jump back & forth, focus on different objects, change perspective and become intertwined with other memories.
If you're ready for a disorienting experience like this, then you'll enjoy this movie because, while being difficult to digest, it's ultimately a rewarding experience. Tracey (expertly played by Ellen Page) is a 15-year-old outcast who is constantly ridiculed & abused by schoolmates, parents and strangers. The movie recounts 2 or 3 intense days in her life, beginning with the story of her missing brother, jumping back to a few days before, and eventually coming full circle and then beyond. While the story itself is linear, the narration (through Tracey's memories) is anything but linear, and the multiple cameras add a deeper dimension of confusion.
But whether you grasp every individual camera & scene or not, the story unfolds clearly, and by the end we are aware of what happened with a few dramatic surprises to boot. Although I hate the phrase "coming of age story" because it conjures up images of extreme boredom and sappiness, this movie is a great, gritty, powerful coming of age story. It's a lot like how I would imagine the book "Catcher in the Rye" with its seemingly random episodes that are glued together by a common theme. In the case of "The Tracey Fragments" (much like Catcher) the theme is about a young adolescent who sees himself/herself as the protector of a younger child; however, the protector herself is coming apart from the strain of protecting innocence while losing her own innocence.
Although the character Tracey is a lot like Ellen Page's character in "Juno" as well as her character in "Whip It", don't expect the same quirky humor because "The Tracey Fragments" is much darker and sometimes disturbing. You might crack a smile at some scenes, and she does have a few great sarcastic lines, but mostly this is a heavy drama with an emphasis on weird.
There aren't many films I can compare this to, but one that comes to mind is the excellent "Man of the Year" (2002) starring John Ritter, a movie featuring about 2 dozen actors and 2 dozen cameras filming simultaneously in real time. Another film I'm reminded of is "Pi" (1998) the directoral debut of Darren Aronofsky who also did "Requiem for a Dream", "The Fountain" and "Black Swan". If you like dark films like those with unusual visual styles, give this one a whirl.