Nepotism is deeply widespread in Hollywood, and many major stars and starlets owe their careers solely to having won the genetic lottery and having wealthy, influential, and famous parents and relatives. On the other hand, nepotism in itself need not be bad if the genetic lottery win also includes talent, so that famous names offer the public quality content alongside famous surnames. One such example could be Teen Spirit, a musical drama that marks the directorial debut of Max Minghella, the young British actor known to the wider public for his role as Nick Blaine in The Handmaid's Tale, and who is the son of Anthony Minghella, the Oscar-winning director of The English Patient. In the lead role of the film, however, appears Elle Fanning, the younger sister of Dakota Fanning, an actress who was at the time better known and more successful.
In the film, Fanning portrays Violet Valenski, the 17-year-old daughter of Polish immigrants in the United Kingdom. At the very beginning, she lives with her single mother (Agnieszka Grochowska) on a farm on the English Isle of Wight, and alongside attending school she helps with the work, while simultaneously trying to make ends meet as a waitress. The only solace in her monotonous and hopeless life is singing, and when the crew of the popular singing reality show "Teen Spirit" comes to the Isle of Wight, Violet decides to try her luck and apply. On her path to success and fame, she receives help from the unusual character of Vladimir Brajković (Burić), a once-famous Croatian opera singer who now lives as an alcoholic wreck but who, recognising her talent, decides to teach her his skills and act as her manager. Despite her mother's opposition and a series of obstacles in her way, Violet manages to qualify for the spectacular final of the show in London, but there she faces the first indications that fame and a singing career bring with them financial and other manipulations, as well as all sorts of temptations capable of destroying characters far more mature than an ordinary 17-year-old girl.
The screenplay for Teen Spirit, also written by Minghella, cannot boast any particular originality. On the contrary, it is a story about how, thanks to show business, one can go from rags to riches, which has been tackled a good million times, and by far more talented authors than Minghella. Fortunately, the young British filmmaker was far less concerned with the question of "what" than "how," and brought an exceptional care for style to his first film, as well as an effort to be worthy of his father. Teen Spirit represents a more than well-directed film, which in a rather simple way and with much discipline and economy strives to tell its story in a runtime of an hour and a half, rare for today's Hollywood films. In this, it is greatly aided by both the skilful use of a carefully selected soundtrack and very good editing, production design, and costuming.
The film's greatest asset is, of course, Fanning, who entered the project determined to show that she could sing, similar to how her far more famous sister did in the rock biopic The Runaways. Her role is even better when one considers that for the part she had to learn lines in Polish, as well as speak English with a convincing British accent. The rest of the cast is quite justifiably overshadowed by her, and this includes Burić, an actor who thanks to his roles in the Danish gangster trilogy Pusher became one of the icons of European cinema, but whose character here is rather underdeveloped. Something similar can be said for Rebecca Hall, who in the role of a shrewd record label agent portrays the closest thing to an antagonist, but actually appears very little in the film. These roles, like that of Violet's mother, only point to this film's biggest problem – the underdevelopment of the screenplay, which touched on some motifs, such as the infidelity of Violet's mother or Vladimir's problematic relationship with his daughter, but the film itself did not deem it appropriate to adequately explore them in subplots. Perhaps Minghella was still not experienced or brave enough to solve that problem, so Teen Spirit at certain moments seems unfinished. Nevertheless, even with such shortcomings, it offers more than solid content to an audience hungry for modern fairytales from the world of show business and can be recommended as a refreshment.
RATING: 6/10 (++)
(Note: The text in the original Croatian version was posted here.)
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