Director: Miranda July
reviewed by Alla Cernea
It’s been a long time since I last watched such a beautifully creative and smart movie. It seems to be
mainly about how we relate to others, and to ourselves, in a somehow discursive and centripetal
reality. Although the theme of otherness has been heavily employed lately, few directors have
managed to put it into to play with such complexity as Miranda July has in "Me and You and
Everyone We Know".
There are no heroes, no prototypical patterns of behavior, no standard approaches to life - there are
just people, within the continuous dynamics of themselves and the outer world. How much is
imagination, and how much reality? It is a question which Miranda July, the director, solves by
harmoniously converging both into one piece: life itself, with its inherent misfortunes, contradictions,
and extremes. In fact, the director is also the leading actress of the movie, in the role of Christine, the
acting thus becoming an extension of her mind, making viewers feel as though we are all potential
directors of the action in our real lives.
Pluses for the movie include: the beautiful frames; the touch of eccentricity; and the approach to
current issues such as virtual identity, and the perversion of youth through online communication,
self-alienation and the technologies of communication. Also a plus is the reversal of stereotypes, such
as the business woman who is pictured as sexually perverse; or, Christine, a woman who sexually
conquers a man, named Richard. However, conquering Richard is not an easy task, as he is a man
too immersed in his own narratives to deal with the recent break up with his wife, or with his
prematurely grown-up kids and new, original relationship.
Sometimes, philosophy might seem excessive in simple life situations; however, this is the focal point
of the film, in that the more you project yourself, the more intense your perceptions of life could be.
MA is in Gender Studies. She is interested in mass-media and feminism; post-colonialism; violence against women; and,
gender and sexuality.
