She Monkeys Riding High in Cinema World
Berlinale Generation 14plus' SHE MONKEYS deals with sex, power and gender issues.
SHE MONKEYS
The search for the self is no doubt one of the great battles teenagers have to live through. It gets more complicated when a teenager struggling with her own sexuality is confronted with the sexual explorations of her seven-year old sister. In SHE MONKEYS (APFLICKONA, Sweden), which won the Gothenburg festival's Nordic film prize and critics’ award, young energetic Sara, only seven years old, is in love with her teenage cousin Sebastian while her older sister Emma is being courted by her teammate Cassandra.
Emma is a talented teen gymnast who takes up vaulting with a team of girls and though she is technically skilled, she does not qualify for the main team as her coach wants her “to have some presence”. Emma is constantly in competition with Cassandra a friend and a teammate. But these quarrels are not as exciting as one might expect of girls competing with each other. Except when Emma hits Cassandra on the leg, their acting is devoid of emotions, thrill and involvement.
The highlight of the movie comes in late when Sara initiates some sexually charged experiments. She might be only seven, but she has her mind set on what she wants and will do anything to attract the attention of her cousin Sebastian. She persuades him to lie beside her in bed and starts to seduce him, bringing up some sexual power play.
Director Linda Aschan is clearly aiming to explore the relation between sex and power, but SHE MONKEYS appears to be more about homosexuality. Emma and Cassandra might be friends and teammates, but there is more to their friendship as Cassandra immediately tells Emma she is in love with her.
SHE MONKEYS could have been better. It takes about three quarters of the movie to get an idea of what it is really about. It takes a long time to introduce the characters. Which leaves Isabella Lindquist very short time to deliver a great performance.
Even more puzzling is the suggestion that SHE MONKEYS encourages the suppression of feelings. Emma’s advice to her young sister leaves one with this feeling. “You don’t have to show your feelings to everyone because they will end up hurting you”, Emma states.
Is suppressing one’s feelings really the best way to express our dissastisfaction about life and the things that happen around us? Will the world hurt us if we were to express our feelings?
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