Directed by Greta Gerwig.
Greta Gerwig's directorial debut, Lady Bird has been attracting all kinds of praise, accolades and hypes. Fiercely independent teen Christine McPherson has christened herself "Lady Bird". She itches to escape Sacramento and her all-girls Catholic school for a place where she can be more herself. We watch her battle with her mother, test out different friends and boyfriends, go to prom and try to figure out who she is.
One of the most powerful things about this film is its thesis - that love is really attention. When reading Lady Bird's college essay, the principal of her school compliments how clearly Lady Bird's love for Sacramento comes through her attention detail. She only realizes how much she does love her hometown after she leaves.
Everything we see in this story, is also informed by poignant observation that love is a form of attention, which isn't always easy or pleasant.
Lady Bird's mother Marion pays nonstop attention to her and it can feel overbearing judgmental, or burdensome but it is how she loves her daughter.
When Lady Bird ditches her best friend Julie for a rich, popular girl who can help her get close to a new crush, the betrayal is again about attention. If we take our attention away from someone, we are essentially taking our love away.
So, more than anything in both its form and content, its style and its story Lady Bird's message is to value what surrounds you, to truly sweat the details of your life.
Lady bird is a classic coming-of-age tale, capturing the universality of teen experience and its sometimes comedic obstacles.
Yet Lady Bird avoids cliches in well-trodden territory by giving us really specific characters and moments, like the football coach trying to direct school play. And it finds originality by changing something key in the structure of the coming of age tale.
We watch the story unfold two sides - from the perspective of the teen and from the perspective of a parent learning to let go.
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