Girlhood
by Liz Garbus
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Canada
Canada
DVD details
Director: Liz GarbusDVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 5.1; English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1
Format: Color, Dolby, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 82 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2004-05-18
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Fox Lorber
DVD Reviews of Girlhood
DVD Review: fine documentary that asks if a rose can rise up from the concrete
Summary: 5 Stars
Girlhood tells the story of two young girls locked up in The Waxter Juvenile Facility in Baltimore because they committed violent crimes. The film is intense and very blunt but it also does a great job of showing the human side of these two young people over a three year span of time. The teenagers are remarkably frank and candid about their experiences both good and bad with family members, friends and more; and they don't outwardly feel ashamed to talk openly about the crimes they committed even though a lot of us would not be comfortable with what they did, let alone discussing it all in a documentary film. The cinematography is excellent and the director made sure we really got excellent insight into what made these two girls "tick" and that's impressive.
When the film starts we meet two young girl named Shanae and Megan; and they both have stories that are interesting although they're not exactly happy stories. Shanae is serving time for stabbing a friend three times during a fight; the other girl died and Shanae simply tells us that she "blanked out" during the fight. Megan is in the same detention center for cutting up a girl (who apparently survived) with a box cutter during a fight; by the time we meet Megan she has already run away from close to eleven foster homes.
The film tells us about the struggle each girl must face to regain a life with at least a semblance of normalcy. It isn't easy. Shanae finally comes to the point where she is mature enough to understand what she has done and she begins to realize that she has to serve some time as a consequence for what she did, even if she never acts particularly remorseful. Megan, on the other hand, is much more feisty and difficult for the staff to control; she tries to run away from Waxter on one occasion and her relationship with her drug-addicted mother is far from smooth.
Of course, I can't spoil it for you so I won't go into too much detail here. Suffice it to say that both girls grow during the three years spanned in this documentary; and the filmmakers even added a bit of extra footage to show what Shanae was able to do in the fourth year after we first meet her despite the adversities she had to face.
The DVD comes with a few extras but definitely the one you want is the running commentary with director Liz Garbus. It's very informative.
Girlhood is a fine DVD that shows how even some of the toughest young people can improve themselves with time. The staff in the juvenile detention center was concerned and caring despite being rather tough and rigid on the surface; and this helped Shanae and Megan considerably. I highly recommend this film for anyone interested in the issues explored in this documentary.
Description of Girlhood
Academy AwardŽ nominated director Liz Garbus follows Shanae and Megan for the next three years, as they try to make a life for themselves both inside and outside of Baltimore?s juvenile justice system. A story of mothers and daughters, crimes and consequences, and strength in the face of unimaginable adversity, girlhood is a testament to the faith and struggles of two girls just trying to grow up.Bestsellers in DVD
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