Janet Planet (12A) |Close-Up Film Review
Cast: Julianne Nicholson, Zoe Ziegler, Sophie Okonedo
Review by Carol Allen
The central character is 11 year old Lucy (Zoe Ziegler ) who in the course of the film is, as the writer describes it, “falling out of love with her mother”, the Janet of the title, played by Julianne Nicholson. Lucy is a serious, rather plain little girl, who peers at the world through her spectacles with a somewhat cold and judgmental gaze. Ziegler is a bit of a find in the role.
The story is set in the early 90s. Lucy has dropped out of summer camp – can’t blame her, it looks ghastly – and is spending the summer with her mother in the Western Massachusetts countryside. The title of the film comes from the acupuncture business Janet has just set up, indicating unintentionally to herself but correctly to us that she is one of those self-obsessed, late hippie types of that era, who is trying to “find herself” through experimenting with philosophies and relationships, trying them on like new frocks – and like most self obsessed people, she is a bore.
And that is the problem with the film. Janet’s navel gazing gets increasingly tedious and we really do begin to sympathise with Lucy in her growing disinterest in her mother’s antics. The various characters who pass through their summer don’t make much impression, with the exception of Sophie Okonedo as Regina, Janet’s experiment with a same sex relationship and an odd cult, in which we see Regina taking part in a bizarre ceremony reminiscent of the worst experimental theatre to which you’ve ever been dragged. She is also the only one of the “visitors” to take an interest in Lucy. They have a rather lively and engaging relationship. Elias Koteas as cult leader Avi also makes a bit of an impression.
On the plus side, while somewhat irrelevant to the main theme but still amusing are Lucy’s piano lessons. The poor child has to be the most untalented pianist ever and the po- faced expression on the face of her teacher (Mary Schulz). as she tries to hide the agony of what she is experiencing, is a comic delight.
It is also beautifully filmed by cinematographer Maria von Hausswolff, using static shots, particularly of the landscape, many of which are like paintings.
