Review of Palindromes (2005) by Daniella Z — 09 May 2010

Solondz is one of my favourite directors of all time. His ability to create inceredibly real, flawed, interesting and often controversial characters is second to none. I enjoy his movies even more as he's not affraid to challenge peoples belived perceptions of themselves, others and life in general.

Palindromes is ecclectic - we follow a 13 year old girl on he unrelenting mission to get pregnant (sounds like an episode of the Maury show, I know). The main girl, Aviva, is played by eight different people but don't let this unusual choice put you off. It's a wonderful exploration of the idea of character and people and Solondz challenges who we feel connection and sympathy with by making sure there's a version of Aviva for all of us to identify with - atleast on the surface.

Like Palindromes themselves, this is a movie that runs the same backward and forwards. Characters have their duplicates and opposites, nobody changes ulimately and people perform the same acts but for very different reasons and in very different ways.

Visually, as always, Solondz captures the mundane fabulously but for a change manages to create an almost fairytale type atmosphere. Oddly humorous in the most bizzare ways imaginable - you won't believe it when you visit "Mama Sunshines" house - but also touching and thought provoking with excellent performances thoughout.