The Tracey Fragments (2007)

The Tracey Fragments (2007). 1h 17m | R

“If itu0026#39;s true, as Marshall McLuhan has suggested, that the medium is indeed the message, then u0026quot;The Tracey Fragmentsu0026quot; proves that theory in spades. This highly idiosyncratic work has as its focal point u0026quot;Tracey Berkowitz – 15 – just another girl who hates herselfu0026quot; – a description that comes straight from the mouth of Ms. Berkowitz herself. Tracey is a deeply unhappy youngster who hates her (admittedly horrible) parents, is terrorized by all the u0026quot;coolu0026quot; kids in school for insufficient mammary-gland development, spends most of her nights riding the subway, hooks up with a psychotic lowlife who turns out to be a drug dealer, and searches for her little brother whom sheu0026#39;s hypnotized into thinking heu0026#39;s a dog and who goes missing by a frozen river when sheu0026#39;s supposed to be watching out for him. To help mitigate her misery, Tracey also dreams of having a relationship with a brooding u0026quot;emou0026quot; bad boy at school and fantasizes that she is a famous, universally worshipped rock star.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eBut it is not Traceyu0026#39;s story that is of primary interest here; rather itu0026#39;s the cut-and-paste film-making style director Bruce McDonald has employed to create a sense of fragmentation and dislocation in the viewer – intended, obviously, to mirror the highly chaotic and disordered nature of Traceyu0026#39;s world and life. With rare exceptions, the screen is occupied by as few as two and as many as a dozen shots at a time, often portraying the same sequence from slightly different angles or at slightly different moments in time, or portraying thematically related scenes simultaneously. The question inevitably arises, is the approach effective in what itu0026#39;s trying to accomplish or does it serve as a distancing device for those of us who are trying to enter into Traceyu0026#39;s mind and world. I imagine that different viewers will come to varying verdicts on that point.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003ePersonally, I appreciate what McDonald is trying to do here more than I admire it. u0026quot;The Tracey Fragments,u0026quot; which Maureen Medved has adapted from her own novel, offers many probing insights into the subject of teenage angst, particularly as regards the tremendous pressure modern young people are put under to u0026quot;measure upu0026quot; and conform to some arbitrarily agreed-upon social standard. And u0026quot;Junou0026quot;u0026#39;s Ellen Page gives a stunning performance as the young woman caught in an ever-tightening web of self-hatred (this is, in many ways, the darker side of u0026quot;Juno,u0026quot; and Page is much less mannered in this role).u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eBut, frankly, the movie probably would have been more moving and involving without all the migraine-inducing imagery which succeeds mainly in throwing us out of the story. In fact, there is only one scene in which the split screen technique actually serves a narrative purpose – and that is when Tracey is hiding behind a curtain while her drug-dealer friend is being savagely beaten by the irate boss to whom he owes money. Most of the rest of the time, the approach feels more like a gimmick designed to separate this film from the rest of the u0026quot;distressed-teen indieu0026quot; pack than an artistically viable choice in its own right.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eStill, if you can get past all the artiness and visual distraction, you might just find in u0026quot;The Tracey Fragmentsu0026quot; a thoughtful, sensitive and ineffably sad glimpse into a young womanu0026#39;s heart.”