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maltatoday, SUNDAY, 9 NOVEMBER 2014 THIS WEEK 34 St James Cavalier Valletta Tel. 21 223200 Class Enemy (12) 18:00 Ida (12) 21:00 Embassy Cinemas Valletta Tel. 21 227436, 21 245818 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (3D) (12) 10:00, 13:00, 18:35 Gone Girl (18) 15:20, 21:00 The Maze Runner (12) 10:20, 13:30, 16:05, 18:35, 21:05 The Judge (15) 17:30, 20:50 The Best of Me (12) 10:10, 13:00, 15:45, 18:30, 21:10 Dracula Untold (15) 10:00, 12:15, 14:30, 16:45, 19:00, 21:15 Fury (15) 10:30, 14:15, 17:30, 20:50 Eden Cinemas St Julian's Tel. 23 710400 Only Lovers Left Alive (15) 14:00, 16:20, 18:45, 21:15, 23:45 The Maze Runner (12) 14:05, 16:25, 18:50, 21:10, 23:40 Let's Be Cops (15) 14:05, 16:20, 18:35, 20:50, 23:05 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (12) 14:05, 18:40, 23:15 The Book of Life (U) 14:15, 16:25, 18:35, 20:45, 22:50 Gone Girl (18) 14:20, 17:55, 20:50, 23:45 The Judge (15) 14:20, 18:05, 21:00, 23:50 The Giver (12) 14:20, 16:30, 18:50, 21:10, 23:20 Breeder (18) 14:20, 16:30, 18:50, 20:55, 23:10 The Equalizer (15) 14:25, 18:00, 20:45, 23:30 Dracula Untold (15) 14:25, 16:30, 18:45, 21:15, 23:20 Fury (15) 14:30, 18:20, 21:05, 23:40 The Best of Me (12) 14:30, 18:25, 21:00, 23:35 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (12) 16:20, 20:55 Empire Cinemas Bugibba Tel. 21 581787, 21 581909 The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (12) 11:00, 13:35, 15:50, 18:05, 20:50 The Best of Me (12) 11:00, 13:30, 16:00, 18:25, 20:55 The Judge (15) 11:00, 14:05, 17:50, 20:45 Fury (15) 11:00, 13:55, 17:45, 20:45 IT'S good that a cinematic year that has given us a three-hour coming-of-age epic by the name of Boyhood has also yielded to a trimmer and unlikely compan- ion piece in Girlhood – directed by Céline Sciamma and in the running for this year's Lux Film Prize, the European Union's re- sponse to the Oscars, as it were. For if Richard Linklater's film is to be commended for its honest – if wilfully plodding – portrayal of a young boy's steps towards maturit y, filmed in 'real time' for added effect, it remains a film centrally about the male experi- ence. By contrast, Sciamma's film is welcome not only because it pro- vides necessary balance alongside Linklater's films. It also widens its focus away from one individ- ual journey to allow for a more communal scope, as our protag- onist Marieme (Karidja Touré) navigates the fringes of the con- temporary Parisian slums. (And to be perfectly fair, the semantic comparison to Linklat- er's film is largely enabled by the English-language translation of the title, given that the original is 'Bande des Filles', which em- phasises the youthful camarade- rie that Sciamma's film explores, and problematises). Oppressed by her family setting, dead-end school prospects and the bullish masculine hold over the neighbourhood, Marieme sees hope for a new life after meeting a group of three free- spirited girls – 'Lady' (Assa Syl- la), 'Adiatou' (Lindsay Karamoh) and 'Fily' (Mariétou Touré). Marieme changes her name to 'Vic' and drops out of school to be accepted into the fold of the anti-social trio in the hope that this will lead her to be accepted into the fold of the anti-social trio, and secure her freedom. But in the crime-ridden and eco- nomically challenging milieu in which she's forced to grow up, oppression comes in many forms, and proves increasingly difficult to disentangle from. Though it's mercifully shorter than Linklater's opus – if we're to continue this tenuous com- parison – Girlhood is replete with leisurely scenes that favour atmosphere over both plot and character development, which certainly stretch the perception of its running time in the mind 's eye. But they also allow for a deeper take on the coming of age story, reminding us that long stretches of boredom, doubt, and an attention to sensorial details are a direct part of the experi- ence. A single-take scene in which the dolled-up quartet of girls en- gage in a casual – but rhapsodic – sing-along to Rihanna's 2013 hit 'Diamonds' is particularly mem- orable. You do get a sense that it's going on for far too long, that it's getting a tad too voyeuristic and not really getting any where. But as ever, the devil is in the detail: there is a brief cut to the still-shy Marieme, her hesitant gaze telling us all we need to know about her character at the moment. She's still unsure about whether to jump into the fray, and when she eventually does the singing rises to a visible cre- scendo, the scene giving way to an important development after all, despite the static positioning of the camera. The scene is long precisely be- cause it represents a precious moment: the kind of moment that sticks in your mind and is f lagged up the second you recall 'the good old days'. Sciamma is great at these one- off moments of telling intimacy, but doesn't fare all that well in marshalling a story into dynamic enough shape. While it's admi- rable that the film eschews the standard 'hero narrative' beats that are the stock-in-trade for Holly wood coming-of-age sto- ries, the episodic tumble it's de- livered in robs it of its punch, particularly as the story putters uncertainly towards its – other- wise justifiably inconclusive – end. So it's a good thing that per- formances are solid across the board. There's a tightrope ten- sion to Marieme's induction into the trendy 'gang' that keeps things gripping, bolstered by the young cast's sensitivit y to the codes and psychological nuances that underpin the crucial teenage rituals. Girlhood was shown at St James Cavalier last week as part of the Lux Film Days – free screenings of the three competing films for this year's edition of the Lux Film Prize. Its companion nominees, Class Enemy (Slovenia) and Ida (Poland) will be screened at St James Cavalier tonight, at 18:00 and 21:00 respectively FILM IN CINEMAS TODAY By Teodor Reljic You can take the girl out of the ghetto… ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ GIRL ★ ★ ★ ★ PEARL ★ ★ ★ TWIRL ★ ★ UNFURL ★ HURL YOUR FIRST CLICK OF THE DAY www.maltatoday.com.mt Uncertain journey: a cocktail of poverty and peer pressure spurns Karidja Touré's Marieme on in this delicate but plodding coming-of-age drama GIRLHOOD (12) ★ ★ ★ ★