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 | Palindromes Director: Todd Solondz Rating: R Palace Nova Cinemas, from Thu 25 Aug  In his films 'Happiness' and 'Storytelling', Todd Solondz established himself as one of the most controversial contemporary US filmmakers. His films, concerned with taboo topics such as sibling rivalry and sex, sit precariously and subversively on the borderline of mainstream cinema.Palindromes are words or phrases that don't change when reversed: for example mum, dad, Glenelg, Sums are not set as a test on Erasmus. Todd Solondz' new film begins where his first one left off, with the funeral of Dawn Wiener, the lead character in 'Welcome To The Dollhouse'. (The one who had all the trouble with her li'l sis.) This is the first palindromic device in a rather strangely told tale concerning a girl, Aviva, played by a variety of very different looking actors. We are always aware that the director is playing with the concept of narrative as he did in his previous film, 'Storytelling'; chapter headings appear as each vignette further unfolds the story. Thirteen-year-old Aviva Victor wants to be a mom, and does all she can to make this happen despite the efforts of her creepy parents. Aviva wants to keep her baby; however, her mother wants her to be rid of what she calls the tumour. So Aviva runs away, taking a round-trip from her home in suburban New Jersey, through Ohio to Kansas and back. It's a fable, a road-trip from innocence to experience, a tragic fairytale portrayal of teen sex that wickedly lures us into surprising answers to questions we would not normally ask ourselves. Solondz mercilessly exposes confused, neurotic parents and other adults and the mixed messages kids get in the ethical minefield of sex and love, pregnancy and abortion, right and wrong. Religion offers no salvation, either. There is fierce irony in the character of Mama Sunshine, the all-loving earth mother whose clap-happy homespun hearth seems to offer asylum but is a hotbed of fanatical religious zeal, tending toward terrorist activity. She heads an enormous, adoptive, rustic family of beaming children of minority hues and various disabilities who eat meals at a big table together under the stars'n'stripes. They also rescue foetuses from the dump to give them a proper Christian send-off. Australian censors had concerns with 'Palindromes', claiming that "The 13-year-old character, Aviva, is depicted having sex with teenage boys and an adult male," and, "These scenes are seen to normalize under-age sex, including that of adults with minors, contrary to community concerns about these matters." Solondz uses the character of Dawn's brother, Mark Wiener, to elaborate one philosophy, a 'determinist' view of life: because of all our circumstances and experience, none of us are ever really free to choose other than as we do. There are about as many philosophies as there are humans, but only some are committed to limiting both artistic expression and the right of the public to experience ideas. If religious fundamentalists have their censoring way, then we are certainly not free to choose. For his part, Solondz has made another superbly artful and challenging film, intended to flash on the radar of the 'holier-than-thou' and to thrill ratbags like me. I madam, I made radio. So I dared. Am I mad, am I? Apparently.  | |
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