A major part of female friendship during adolescence is intense and intimate sharing, not only of secrets and emotions, but also of rituals and even personas. It's this kind of connection that spurs teen girls to dress like their friends, and keeps the makers of split-in-two best friend necklaces in business. This incredibly tight-knit bond with your best gal pal sometimes felt like the only thing keeping your stress-laced teen world together. English auteur Sally Potter remembers this feeling vividly, and her latest film Ginger & Rosa captures this kind of kinship thanks in part to the stunning portrayals from Elle Fanning and Alice Englert.
You can get a glimpse of some of the titular teens' rituals and a hint at the film's central conflict below with its first trailer:
I recently wrote up a brief review for the film after it screened at the New York Film Festival. With its powerful emotional center and thought provoking look at the 1960s from the point of view of an aspiring female activist, Ginger & Rosa proved to be my favorite of the prestigious festival's incredible line-up. So few films manage to exhibit the delicate yet intoxicating nature of girlhood friendships, but Potter and her remarkable cast—that boasts Annette Bening, Alessandro Nivola, Oliver Platt, Timothy Spall, and Christina Hendricks—did so flawlessly.
While the film explores what happens when the girls' differences fracture their friendship, this clip promoting its theatrical release in England shows its title characters in happier times:
Ginger & Rosa will have a brief qualifying run before year's end, and a more inclusive theatrical release early in 2013.
