Phoebe in Wonderland

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Movie
German title Phoebe in Wonderland
Original title Phoebe in Wonderland
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 2008
length approx. 96 minutes
Age rating FSK 6
Rod
Director Daniel Barnz
script Daniel Barnz
production Ben Barnz,
Lynette Howell
music Christophe Beck
camera Bobby Bukowski
cut Robert Hoffman
occupation

Phoebe in Wonderland is an American drama from 2008 . Directed by Daniel Barnz , who also wrote the script.

action

The main character in the film is nine-year-old Phoebe Lichten. Phoebe is a bright and imaginative girl who sometimes has difficulties separating her fantasy world from the real world. She questions the monotonous school rules and is rejected by the teachers. She overreacts to provocations from her classmates and is then most upset about it herself. However, without addressing the provocations or complicity of the classmates, Phoebe's reaction alone is punished. As a result, she comes more and more into conflict with the school and her classmates. She is only friends with Jamie.

She reacts to the conflicts with increasing compulsive acts, which at first appear harmless. She washes her hands for far too long or bounces up and down the stairs until her knees are swollen. Phoebe sometimes spits at her classmates or she accidentally slips swear words out of her. She then increasingly becomes an outsider. Even her younger sister Olivia turns away from her and expresses the wish to prefer "another sister" . Phoebe finds reality terrible and withdraws more and more into her fantasy world, the wonderland. She asks for help from the imaginary characters in her wonderland, but they do not answer the calls for help. Her mother Hillary misjudges the problems and initially believes that Phoebe is just a special child. When the problems get out of hand, Mrs. Lichten sends Phoebe to the psychologist Dr. Miles, but to no avail.

Only when the theater project “ Alice in Wonderland ” was offered at school did she apply for a role after initial hesitation. The eccentric and unorthodox theater educator Mrs. Dodger recognizes Phoebe's talent and she gets the lead role. Phoebe thrives at rehearsals, but school principal Mr. Davis wants her to be removed from the project as a punishment after further incidents. In a conversation with the worried parents, he advises them to look for another school for Phoebe.

Mrs. Dodger notices Phoebe on the lighting bridge over the stage. Phoebe looks down at the stage and says that only there she feels safe and secure on stage. The world outside of it is terrible for her and she fears it. Mrs. Dodger replies that Phoebe may remember this in her later life; even if she doesn't understand it now, she will later realize that she is someone special. But whatever she does and says, she is the person who determines her actions and thoughts and no one else. In this certainty she will find the confidence and love for life. We are masters of ourselves.

At home, Phoebe's father Peter makes a thoughtless remark, which Phoebe then unconsciously processes with her tics during rehearsals . With the desire to come to her idealized wonderland, she finally jumps down from the lighting bridge. The Director then dismisses Mrs. Dodger for violating her duty of supervision. The students then take advantage of Mrs. Dodger's absence and do what they want, but Phoebe can't stand it and appeals to her classmates to continue rehearsing without supervision and to perform the piece as planned. Ultimately, this also leads to Phoebe finding more connection again.

Meanwhile, Phoebe's mother finds out that her daughter has Tourette's syndrome . In a question and answer session, Phoebe then explains the disease and the symptoms to her classmates to better understand them. The piece is finally performed. Before that, Phoebe goes to the lighting bridge again and meets her teacher and Alice in her imagination, who encourage her again and then disappear. The film ends during the theatrical performance when Phoebe says, "I am ...".

Reviews

The organizers of the Sundance Film Festival wrote that the film was an honest and contemplative work. He realistically thematizes the questions of normality and madness as well as the understanding of childhood.

Awards

The film participated in the 2008 Sundance Film Festival, which nominated Daniel Barnz for the Grand Jury Prize.

In 2008 the film received the Don Quixote Prize from the FICC jury at the 31st international LUCAS Children's Film Festival . Reason of the jury: Quote: “It is a film that shows the importance of fantasy and the struggle of a child to face the demands of reality and at the same time not to lose their fantasy world. The transformation into a fictional character on stage gives her the strength to believe in herself even in everyday life. That's why our award goes to 'Phoebe in Wonderland' by Daniel Barnz. "

background

For Elle Fanning it was the first leading role. She was only 9 years old when shooting began.

The film was shot in Manhattan and Long Island . The world premiere took place on January 20, 2008 at the Sundance Film Festival .

It is Daniel Barnz's first feature film. The screenplay was written by him ten years before the film started shooting.

Daniel Barnz noticed Elle Fanning's acting performance and appearance in the films The Door in the Floor and Babel . At first he wasn't sure whether he could give a nine-year-old this sometimes very depressing role. But after the first meeting with Elle Fanning, his concerns were allayed. He found that she has a solid personality and such a luminous charisma that she can play the role of Phoebe Lichten without harm.

In preparation for her role, Elle Fanning visited children with Tourette's syndrome .

The costumes were auctioned for the benefit of the American Tourette Society.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Release certificate of the FSK (PDF), accessed on June 13, 2014
  2. ↑ www.sundance.org/Description, accessed on January 22, 2008 ( Memento of the original from January 15, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.sundance.org
  3. ^ Reasons of the FICC jury
  4. ↑ Filming locations for Phoebe in Wonderland, accessed January 22, 2008
  5. ^ Opening dates for Phoebe in Wonderland, accessed January 22, 2008
  6. ↑ "Phoebe in Wonderland" Director Daniel Barnz ( English ) indiewire.com. January 17, 2008. Retrieved September 21, 2019.
  7. ↑ a b c ELLE> CO-WORKER'S QUOTES ( English ) elle-fanning.net. Archived from the original on December 19, 2016. Retrieved September 21, 2019.