Looking for Alibrandi
May. 04,2000Josie Alibrandi has a lot to deal with right now. She’s 17, got the dreaded H.S.C. in front of her, and the boy of her dreams seems completely out of reach. Then there’s that other problem. She’s a wog. Sure, it’s where Josie comes from, but it’s not where she feels she belongs. In fact, Josie doesn’t know where she belongs. With her Nonna in one ear talking about the old country and the stuck-up girls at her school telling her she’s an outsider, it’s no wonder. This year, however, everything is going to change. Josie will let loose, face her fears, uncover secrets - even discover the true identity of her father. It’s going to be a year when Josie finally finds out where she belongs.
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Reviews
I love this movie so much
Terrible acting, screenplay and direction.
best movie i've ever seen.
it is finally so absorbing because it plays like a lyrical road odyssey that’s also a detective story.
Good movies from a culture, New Zealand, French and Australian being my favourites, and I watch a lot of movies, capture the flavour of a culture and time that encapsulates how it feels and looks.This is a timeless wonder and I am biased because it replicates my life although I am in New Zealand. So brilliant poignant moments, music from the time, average ordinary people scenery that captures the atmosphere and flavour of the time and age.Wonderful an hour or two of thorough enjoyment and a few tissue moments.Lots of people in it who went on to greater things too. What's not to love:-)
well..i read the book so many times....and i loved it...and when i saw the movie...i was so disappointed..and sad..i get its a low budget movie.but....there are so many different parts...the movie is so empty and short..they have cut so many parts....i mean..the book wasn't 300 pages..its was a normal book..why didn't they include all the things in the movie>?? and the characters are so not a like as they are described in the book..! anyways it was worth watching it...but not more than once.I would love if someone would remake this movie..with other actors..and to do it exactly like in the book...i think people would enjoy it more!
In some of my user comments here I mention that when I started out with DVDs I came across three budget priced features, all 4x3 from Australia, that stood out as among the best. Nicole Kidman's Nightmaster, yes, still hot, but I have not found a widescreen version of this yet. My Mother Frank, yes and I now have a widescreen version of this from Australia. This seems to be loved by some and considered alien by others. My guess is that to get a positive and sympathetic impression it helps a lot if one started off in the Catholic worlds. I have noticed this feature quoted in Scary Movie (2000), etc, so it looks to be influential with some storytellers. * Alibrandi, while this is also rooted in Catholic culture it is more accessible to others. Alibrandi is rooted in race war and male female war, but what stood out for me was questions of identity, of being true to oneself. My own view, that it took some issues about maturity and presented them in a way that could help calm war. I experienced this as bridge building. My widescreen version, from Australia, 16:9 region 4 though the package also says 2.35:1. The widescreen was communicating to me straight away. It just seemed so right, as did the 4x3. The image felt full and complete. Also clear, sharp, three dimensional. True, mine needs a capacity to play region 4. 2.35:1, from IMDb I understand this to be the aspect ratio of the original cinema release. The commentary. This is the director and the writer, the writer was responsible for both the novel and the screenplay while also being an expert to help the director get detail right. Comments about the music stood out, all sorts of other stuff too. If one's experience of Alibrandi is influenced by such as the music at the funeral then this commentary adds positively. Other DVD stuff, some bibliography is there. That normally does not appeal to me too much except that I had not realised that David of My Mother Frank has a key role in this. Two music videos of some of the background music are here. Nicer than the average, but try to notice these in the feature. Teenager feels a bit different and is listed as by a different performer. Weir is where? Symbolic? * SPOILER The widescreen package I have has one deleted scene. I give this description as I got thrown by it: Jose heading back home after working at the café cum take-away. She is violently attacked by someone who she knew way back when. Jacob saves her, calms her down, they start kissing. Jose meets Jacob, unusual situation, their first kiss, I note links with My Girl (1991) and Donnie Darko (2001). The commentary says that it was deleted because it is too violent, also that the context was not set. Except the guy who attacks her is remarkably like a scruffy form of John Barton. I was thrown because this scene can read like Repay Them Doubled type Queen Of Hearts storytelling which is a polar opposite to why I was attracted to the feature. Barton was in a trap that he could not escape from by himself. Amanda Show speak, he has some bags of crisps, a commonplace trap with a range of possible symptoms. The subset in the feature allows a sympathetic view of John, he was in a trap and could not escape, so he died in one way that one could be said to be dead. The deleted scene shows John dead in a way that does not get a sympathetic response, he is not likely to be considered to be in a trap, he is likely to be considered as smelly dead. It brings out the tripods of the war of the worlds so increasing smelly death disease on this planet. Yet I do not consider that to be truly John, but an expression of the forces of the trap at that point in time, John as a puppet. The scene was for just after the exchange of notes and just before the death of John. This has strong colours of meaning that do not fit the subset of possible symptoms that John is shown to experience. The widescreen package is still a must for those who really like this story, but I got thrown by the extra.
When I was doing my HSC, the novel of 'Looking For Alibrandi' was of the main texts for the subject: English. Our task for 'Alibrandi' was to "focus only on the novel don't say anything about the film". I actually watched the film before I'd finished reading the novel, but to me the film was just the same as the novel. Well English was never my best subject and I wasn't found of any of the English texts. I don't mean to offend anyone but I don't like the novel or the film of 'Alibrandi'.The reason why I don't like it is because stories about ordinary people bore me. The main reason why I either watch movies or read novels is because theybring you out of the ordinary world into a funny, exciting and extraordinaryworld. So 'Alibrandi' is the exact opposite of everything that entertains me in movies or novels. So I'd say that 'Alibrandi' has become a popular text forEnglish here in Australia, but it doesn't mean you have to like it.