Fragmented teenage confusion

Juno’s star expresses the plight of teenagers everywhere.

William O’Donnell, staff

I could easily dismay Tracey Fragments for being just like those art-house movies that are forever parodied and mocked for their sheer and purposeful weirdness (because it is in many ways), but at least it has enough sensibility and (ironically) realism to ground it enough to be watchable.

The idea of fragments is not just a running metaphor, but a visual realization in the manner that the film is presented. The scenes are largely made up of several miniature and moving shots of the same scene at different times and angles, along with the addition of non sequitur images — the sort of presentation that must be seen to be understood.

It is not the manner of visualization, which is certainly “hip” and “artsy,” that makes the film frustrating for me to experience. Rather, my frustration comes from the subject matter, as presented from the complete perspective of our title character. Through every sequence we are offered the view and narration of Tracey Berkowitz, a 15-year-old Winnipegger, (interestingly portrayed by Ellen Page). The film is clearly from Tracey’s perspective and the fragmentation is meant to express her experiences as a teenager — a mixture of the sorts of bad decisions one might expect from a teenager (call me ageist, go ahead), coupled with stereotypical images that are peppered throughout, such as that of horses, a sad clown, and crows. After a while, it all just became too much. Tracey’s bullies dress more like cougars from the Palomino Club than high schoolers, her (maybe) boyfriend looked like a Joy Division wannabe, and she was forever yielding responsibility. In fact, the disappearance of her brother was summed up to “They should never have grounded me.” Tracey is in total control of how we see her world and knows it is being presented; she addresses the audience directly during most all of her narration portions and we are subjected to her literalized fantasies.

Due to Tracey’s dominating perspective, it is frustrating and difficult to decipher what is overly exaggerated and what might be truth. For example, the lighting used during the psychiatrist scenes screams exaggeration to me. In fact, all that I just complained about (and the film as a whole, really) could be viewed as almost entirely exaggerated.

For what it’s worth, Page gives a very good performance. I’d be inclined to say “too good” because though her performance was sold, what she accomplished was a mostly dislikeable character. Perhaps that is too harsh, but compounding her teenage arrogance (as well executed as it may be) with the aforementioned imagery and situations makes for an exhausting experience. Yes, being a teenager is a jumbled experience, things happen faster than they’re supposed to and Page nails all of this down . . . I just don’t find watching it entertaining or enlightening at this stage in my life. Mind you, this does make an interesting companion to Page’s Juno performance, which is also frustratingly teenager but exaggerated in the opposite direction.

This film will be the gloomy dream film for youths into the “indie” or “underground” scenes, or just those that see a little of themselves in Tracey. I’m sure many will call this film genius and they’ll feel really good about saying it, too. Be cautious entering, but not too scared by my words. I am fully aware of how jaded my view of teenage life is (I was one only four years ago, after all). Bruce MacDonald, the film’s director, is talented, and I will confess that he does pull off this film, in a fashion. I appreciate his attempt in hindsight and enjoy the idea of this method of presentation. The film does its best to ensure that one can’t place a solid ruling over it because it is too hard to pinpoint (you can tell just by reading some of the trouble I am having). My advice is to see it for the experience of seeing it, as the only opinion that matters is your own, and this film will guarantee a very different one for everyone. Just like the numerous angles offered in each scene of this film, many can be taken when trying to formulate one’s opinion of it.