Lady Bird

Greta Gerwig, 2017, USA, Colour, 94 mins, Certificate: 15

This month the world is celebrating women everywhere. And we do too, with a film written and directed by a multi-talented woman, starring two brilliant female actors and focusing on a relationship that can be incredibly nurturing, yet irrevocably competitive, rarely explored so candidly on the big screen.

That is to say, the celebrated mainly for her acting credits, Greta Gerwig (“Frances Ha”) directs Saoirse Ronan as the endearingly unruly teenage daughter and Laurie Metcalf as the mother who familiarly makes her life difficult. Out of love.

This is a little, big story, sometimes funny, sometimes sad,  sweet and bitter, but always sincere. An undiluted slice of real life about what it is to be a mother, a daughter, a woman, but above all a human. It was nominated for 5 Oscars (Best Picture, Best Actress, Best Supporting, Actress, Best Original Screenplay and Best Directing) and it will put an enduring, comforting smile on your face.

Reviews:

Grade: A- ““Lady Bird” is both snarky and sincere — a touching, markedly feminine ode to growing up that never takes its familiarity for granted. Gerwig earns the ability to make this rite-of-passage saga her own.” Eric Kohn, Indie Wire

★★★★★ “A sweet, deeply personal portrayal of female adolescence that’s more attuned to the bonds between girlfriends than casual flings with boys, writer-director Greta Gerwig’s beautiful ‘Lady Bird’ flutters with the attractively loose rhythms of youth. Anchored by an expressive mother-daughter story in which unconditional love and enmity often seem one and the same, and elevated by an entrancing Saoirse Ronan (easily among the best and most intimate actors of her generation), Gerwig’s accomplished second directorial effort makes you wish she’d spend more time behind the camera.”” Tomris Laffly, Time Out

★★★★ “Lady Bird doesn’t exist as a twee indie movie construct, it feels thrillingly real and deeply personal, every single beat ringing true… [It] is a film bursting with warmth, wit and melancholy that manages to seem fresh and unexpected despite the overly stacked nature of the subgenre. Gerwig displays no narcissism as someone sharing a version of her past or an aching desire to be hip as a young film-maker and instead relies on genuine, deeply felt emotion to sell her story. It’s an impeccably crafted film.” Benjamin Lee, The Guardian

★★★★★ “Following her co-director credit on 2008’s Nights and Weekends, Greta Gerwig goes it alone directing Saoirse Ronan in Lady Bird. A lovingly observed, pitch perfect coming-of-age comedy, Gerwig’s warm, astute account of the end of adolescence is a stunning solo debut.” Christopher Machell, CINEVUE