I watched the movie White Oleander on HBO this morning. I've been wanting to watch this movie for a while, and I wasn't disappointed. I haven't read the novel by Janet Fitch but I will. The movie was amazing.
fix.avi for FF VIIIt follows the life of a girl named Astrid as she grows from a young teenager to an adult. In that time her mother, a famous artist, is convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison. She's moved from foster home to foster home to group home. She learns lessons in love and trust along the way. She has crushes and falls in love and learns to know the difference. She has to find who she is while being pulled in various directions by such characters as her manipulative mother, a bible thumping reformed sinner, and a needy woman looking to use Astrid fill holes in her own lonely life. The entire time her mother, who claims to be trying to help protect Astrid from the evils of the world and teach her, in truth just appears to punish happiness. Anything that brings Astrid happiness is wrong in Ingrid's eyes.
The characters are the most powerful part of the movie. Each foster parent is in a way a stereotype, but they play as very real. Whether that is because of the acting of Robin Wright Penn and Renee Zellweger or because of how well the story is written, I don't now.
Michelle Pfeiffer is wonderful as Ingrid. She is a brilliant woman who is able to influence things very strongly from prison with nothing but words. Like her favorite flower, the White Oleander, she's beautiful and strong. You'd never know to look at either one the ease with which they could kill you.
The story is told from the point of view of Astrid and Alison Lohman is perfect in that part. In a movie filled with big stars, she shines the brightest. In her early 20s, she is able to play the part of a girl as she grows into a woman, and is believable at every age. There is no doubt we're looking at a child when the movie begins and woman when it ends. That the same person plays both would be hard for me to believe had I not seen it. She's able to convey the girls journey as a safe and priviledged world is yanked away from her and the real world full of pain comes crashing in. We see her grow and slowly open up to a few select others. She finds the power of being loved and then through loving herself how to really feel love for another person as well.
This is not a light movie by any means, and there is very little happiness of any kind. It is a beautiful and emotional story that I would recommend to everyone.
I would love to hear other people's thoughts on either the movie or the book.
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