Nell, 1994

Nell, 1994
Director: Michael Apted
Cast: Jodie Foster, Liam Neeson, Natasha Richardson


Stage: Home Theatre, lonely Friday evening


Nell in short: Nell is a girl who's been brought up in an isolated world. The only people she knew were her mother and twin sister. They lived together in a cottage in the forest. Nobody has ever met Nell. After her mother's death, she's discovered by the local doctor Jerome. He's fascinated by her, since she speaks a mangled language, developed by her sister and herself growing up, "twin speak" if you will. But Paula, a psychology student, wants her observed in a laboratory. The judge decides they get three months to observe her in the forest, after which he'll decide about Nell's future.



Preps: Wow, a long time since I took a shot at this one. Have seen this a long time ago and I need to review the position :) Plus, I am in the mood for Foster and Neeson.


Reality: A breathtaking drama, with some standards we are ready to pursue until the court, later on we see, they don't hold value. Is taking someone from the environment he's used to, justified.. I mean this with every breath of my spirit.. the movie shows how devalued our standards are and how ashamed we should sometimes feel with ourselves. On the other hand, the movie shows deep respect to simple life, simple ways and means. And a touching story of a girl (now a woman), left behind when the mother dies and she being discovered by accident.

The first half of the movie is dedicated to us, reminding us what the life could have been, without it being complicated with things we are familiar with nowadays, and even more, used to. Like electricity, running water, cable, etc. Nell lives without it. And manages to get by quite easily and in a life, rich with other values. Obviously the storyline of a wild thing being caught in a scenery that can be easily discovered by "well behaved society", is intriguing, yet it shows how we are forcing everyone live up to our standards. Yet noone asks him/herself, whether our standards are good or are they just intimidating to someone's way of living. Should Nell be brought into an institution or should she be like a wild beast, with us just observing her? This is the main story inside this piece. A side story, love romance, obviously happening between the two doctors. Could have been avoided, still it gets somehow inside the main stoy in the and, so I can feel good about it.

Nell is a good thinking about how we treat wild and unknown entities that come on our path. And I believe this outcome we see in movies cannot be real. Because we are worse, we would never have left a person like Nell intact. We would really bring her into an institution and let her rotten there. Sadly, but probably more true than what was shown in the piece. Still, loved it. Jodie Foster is brilliant in this role.


My personal rating: 7,0 (solid, good piece, makes you wonder what the real virtues are and what are we ready to fight about)


Nell on IMDB