REVIEWS Young & Wild REVIEWED BY MARK ADAMS
Director Marialy Rivas’ playful and stylish film is another welcome addition to the roster for impres- sive new films charting the forthright sexuality of teens, though this time round — given the story is set in Chile — the spectre of religion looms large over 17-year-old Daniela and her sexual drives. It is a polished and engagingly frank debut,
with Alicia Luz Rodriguez impressive as the sex- obsessed Daniela caught between her enthusiasm for her sex-orientated online activities (her site is called ‘youngandwild/
blogspot.com’) and the pressure from her mother to embrace their evan- gelical church in Santiago. When Daniela is taken out of school after reve-
lations about her supposed sexual liaison with another student, she is sent by her mother to work at the Evangelical television station. Naturally enough, the hope is that this should
help her see the light… but Daniela instead finds herself attracted to co-workers Tomas (Pinto) and Antonia (Omegna), which leads her enthusiastic imagination to conjure all sort of possible relation- ships with the pair. The scenes of her blog entries offer the opportu-
nity for a little dabbling with on-screen effects, as other bloggers are seen responding to her com- ments. It is never absolutely clear if Daniela’s
GENERATION
Chile. 2011. 92mins Director Marialy Rivas Production company Fabula International sales Elle Driver,
www.elledriver.fr Producers Juan de Dios Larrain, Pablo Larrain Executive producers Mariane Hartard, Juan Ignacio Correa Screenplay Marialy Rivas, Camila Gutierrez, Pedro Peirano, Sebastian Sepulveda Cinematography Sergio Armstrong Editors Andrea Chignoli, Sebastian Sepulveda Production designer Roberto Espinoza Main cast Alicia Luz Rodriguez, Aline Kuppenheim, Maria Gracia Omegna, Felipe Pinto
descriptions of her sexual trysts are real or not — blogs are not often the best sources of reliable information — but Rivas shoots the sex scenes with care and style, and is clearly benefited by Rodriguez’s charming performance of a young girl on the cusp of womanhood. The scenes of Daniela’s relationship with her authoritarian mother and her more laid-back (and
terminally ill) aunt act as a nice counterbalance to the sex sequences. There is nothing explicit here, though the tone of the subject might make the film a tough sell for some distributors. But Young & Wild (Joven y Alocada), which also
screened at Sundance, is a thoroughly charming film and tackles a teenage girl’s sexual enthusiasm with compassion and intelligence.
n 24 Screen International at the Berlinale February 10, 2012
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