Has anyone seen this? It was supposedly released in 2007, or maybe it will come out next year. It’s the story of Sylvia Likens; there is a very long and much more heartbreaking article about her at www.crimelibrary.com, and of course you can find the film info on the IMDB.
Having read about it and watched the trailer, I don’t think I could possibly sit through it, as much as I like Catherine Keener…and I’m sure Ellen Page would be great as well. Or I might have to do what I did when I rented The Passion of the Christ: fast forward all the horrible stuff and end up watching about 20 minutes of film.
The trailer is here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YYYhYFuyFGw
I can’t believe someone was sick enough to make a movie out of this. It’s stomach-churningly awful and just watching half of that trailer makes me feel sick.
Oh, and they’re really complimenting old Gertrude by having her played by Catherine Keener. There’s no way they could ugly her up enough to look like that monster.
When I read the crimelibary article on this tragedy I was sitting at work, crying like a baby. An unfathonable tragedy. I’m not against a movie on any subject but don’t see the point in general in making films on real life tragedies that 0.1% of the population is aware of- true crime only has an interest when you know the crime.
There is nothing redeeming about the story… not a story of endurance and overcoming… she was just slowly and cruelly tortured until her death. It’s just a re-enactment.
I think Boys Don’t Cry did have redeeming value and there were lessons to be learned from it. It was/is an important issue and I think that movie opened a lot of eyes. I think it was beneficial that Brandon Teena’s story was told.
And you really can’t compare the two in terms of what happened to the victims. Yeah, they killed Brandon Teena, but it was nothing compared to what happened to Sylvia Likens. That was just some heinous, Hitler-esque torture that they did to her. What she went through is unfathomable. IMO, looks to be *An American Crime * a snuff film.
I don’t know if people will realize this is a true story. It’s one thing to watch something gruesome if you think it’s made up, but this shit really happened. Maybe part of it is that I live in Indiana and I’ve known about this story for as long as I can remember. It’s always haunted me.
I can imagine this film giving some viewers nightmares for years after. It would me anyway. That doesn’t mean I don’t think they should be able to make the film, but I do question why actresses like Catherine Keener and Ellen Page would choose to do this movie. Are they just angling for Oscars and Golden Globes? If so, shame on them. I’d be interested in reading some interviews of what they have to say on the matter.
In that interview, Catherine Keener says she thinks the movie could be valuable in opening up discussion about child abuse. But is that still a “taboo” subject in any way? I know I’ve read and seen enough already to make me keenly aware that helpless children are brutalized everyday by pathetic, defective adults, and I’m pretty sure most people are against that. Will a dramatic movie about evil wretches committing horrific acts really make a difference? Beats me.
Meant to add: looking through the lengthy article, what makes me saddest is that the girls were not just horribly abused by evil individuals, but were profoundly failed by other adults that could have helped them, and didn’t.
Ugh, that is a terrible story and I’ll definitely pass on the movie. I won’t even watch the trailer.
I agree with Baldwin, I can’t imagine this film opening up any valuable discussion about child abuse. This murder seems beyond the realm of child abuse – okay, I don’t know how to say that where it doesn’t sound like I think typical child abuse is all right, but seriously, this is just beyond. The circumstances seem to be a chain of one bizarre event after another. If anything, the starting point here is a lesson about not leaving your children in a slovenly hovel and then heading out of town indefinitely and never checking up on them. How does that even strike a parent as a normal thing to do?
It probably doesn’t help that the Crime Library article was so weirdly and poorly written.
I don’t mind stories about heinous murders because there’s usually more to the story than just the murder…but torture just seems so…pointless. Just nothing but pain over and over again. What’s the point of showing it to us? To make us feel bad?
I had the same problem with another movie Ellen Page was in called “Hard Candy.” It just felt like two hours of one individual torturing another that initially seemed like it might be novel or interesting.
Shame on them for…challening themselves to take on tough roles and excel?
They’re actresses. That’s their job. Next we’re going to start shaming mice for eating and shitting. Come on, now. Hollywood actresses have no obligation to your comfort level.
That, right there, is where it can get people to think. That’s the part a lot of people don’t realize: that many children suffer because they’re failed by adults who don’t do what they can.
They are welcome to take any role that comes along. I’m sure my opinion on it has no bearing. And, from what I’ve read, they didn’t exactly excel and the movie isn’t all that great. Here’s one example:
But I would hate to see this movie get all kinds of attention for the sheer drama of what happened. It’s exploitation, plain and simple. And I have a right to be uncomfortable with it. I never said they shouldn’t or couldn’t make a movie like this, just that I find no value in a re-enactment.
I guess I assume, because the story turns my stomach and gives me nightmares, that others will probably feel the same way. Hell, go on crime library and tell me you think this is a story that needs telling. And yes, these things are subjective, but as all of you, I am entitled to be sickened by it.
Sure you are. But I’m not the type to decide which stories other people do or don’t need to tell; I think that’s up to them and that church-lady indignation/discomfort only weakens the artistic integrity of the medium.
But that’s just me. Of course I wouldn’t deny you the right to express your discomfort, but when you call for the actresses in this movie to be shamed for taking on the roles, that’s just downright silliness at best and an attack on film and art in general at worst.
I’m about 35 miles from where it happened. I was in high school when the story unfolded. It was on the news and in the papers for weeks. Everbody I knew was horrified that anyone could be so cruel. I wouldn’t be surprised to find that everyone in Central Indiana old enough to remember the story knows exactly who Sylvia Likens was.
I won’t be seeing the movie. It was 42 years ago, and I still don’t want to re-live it.
Funny, I always thought the point of art was to provoke all kinds of emotions and responses, including discomfort and disgust. My initial reaction may have been overly critical, but again, I have known about this story for as long as I can remember and it is the kind of thing that haunts my brain. I might not be as upset over a story that wasn’t so close to home.
Perhaps I was too harsh in saying they should be ashamed for it. But I really hope the Oscar angle wasn’t the only thing they had in mind when making the film. I would hope for more integrity than that, but I don’t expect it.
I had to stop watching the trailer after a minute or so. I just don’t have the stomach for movies like this, watching a young girl being tortured, even in a dramatic representation, is just unbearable.
It has nothing to do with the fact that this is based on a real case either. I have the same problem with movies like Hostel, etc. I just don’t enjoy watching people being tortured.