17 Girls

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Jesse O 06/20/2015 This is one of those French movie that talks a lot without every really saying anything at all. I'm pretty sure you've seen one of these films once in your life, at least if you follow international cinema, even at a more casual level. It's not that this is a bad movie, or one that is poorly made, I just think there's certain parts of the film that feel like a whole bunch of nothingness. I wouldn't necessarily say it's filler, as parts of it are showing the girls in their daily surroundings, literally doing nothing in their rooms, and I think the film wanted to show something through those scenes. And it's not like the narrative is really all that focused, maybe to add a little more 'realism' to the proceedings as teens are hardly focused on one thing for any length of time, but I tend to think that it was just some poor scripting that led to the narrative not being tightly held together. I do think there's moments of insight where the film showcases just how absolutely warped these girls' thinking in doing this. I just mean the complete and utter innocence with which they look at something that will change their lives forever, for better or worse. In many ways, this is similar to Sisterhood of Night, except this one is more 'subtle' whereas Sisterhood is a little heavy-handed at times with its message. I think part of the reason this got so far is the need for some teens to feel like they belong with their particular group of friends. I don't think they were thinking of the consequences, just of the fact that it's something cool they could do with friends. I just don't think the film really delved too much into that. Like seeing what drove these girls to all become pregnant at the same time. They do explicitly state out their motivations, but that didn't really feel like enough. It was just lazily thrown out there. Parts of the reason is also the fact that, at least from Camille's mindset, that her mom is simply not involved in her life and she simply did not have the guidance that's necessary to realize that undergoing this is a very serious issue. Perhaps they didn't feel like their parents understood them and having a child was a way to correct all their parents' mistakes. There's hints of this in the film, of course. But, like I said, the narrative is barely held together. It's a perfectly decent movie, to be honest. The acting is more than good and there's moments of insight here about the naivete of those involved in this 'pact.' I just wish there was more of that and less of the dull, nothing scenes that permeated throughout the film. It's certainly not bad, but it won't knock them dead either. It's a middle of the road film, at least for me. See more Walter M @Harlequin68 05/02/2014 In "17 Girls," high schooler Camille(Louise Grinberg) is pregnant. This puts her already difficult relationship with her mother(Florence Thomassin) on even rockier ground. But Camille's friends are all happy for her. Then Florence(Roxane Duran) also gets pregnant. So, the other members of Camille's clique decide to get pregnant together, starting with a party on a Saturday night with Clementine(Yara Pilartz) about the only one not finding a partner. With a rash of pregnancies, the adults go into lockdown mode before going nuclear with the childbirthing videos.(Oh no, not that!) "17 Girls" handles a difficult subject delicately with grace, grounding its story(inspired by real events) in the realities of a small seaside city where the cultural highlight is eating at the local Chez Mac. In this milieu, all the girls have are each other, with the clueless adults failing the kids and not the other way around. At the same time, the movie can be dreamlike, not only philsophically but also aesthetically. While a montage of ultrasounds is a highlight, the freeze frame portraits are a little too artsy. See more 03/30/2014 Interesting movie, I remember hearing about this in the news. Pregnancy Pacts or whatever, Its crazy how your brain works when you are still a teenage, and they quickly realized its not all its cracked up to be. Good movie though. See more 02/13/2014 It still amazes me that this happened. See more 10/15/2013 Very interesting to watch the "French" version... See more 09/17/2013 Une trame tiree d'un fait divers deroutant etire sur 1h20. La fin qui se veut inutilement tragique revele les limites du scenario. See more Read all reviews

17 Girls

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