47-year-old Jennifer Fox is an American documentary filmmaker. She comes from a middle-class family, has a successful career, and is a part-time professor at the university. She is also in a stable relationship. She has been engaged to her fiancé for three years, and the other party is planning to propose. Everything seems to be going smoothly.
Until one day, her elderly mother turned out a story written by her daughter when she was 13 years old. The mother and daughter suddenly realized that the first love the girl had been thinking about when she was 13 years old and the 40-year-old track and field coach was not love at all. It was a childhood sexual assault.
Authenticity is the greatest strength of Letterhead Stories. This kind of truth, we also read in "Fang Siqi's First Love Paradise" last year.
The book was so naked and painful that every word seemed to tear people apart. Lin Yihan's words have a kind of desperation as a moth to a flame. She will use up all the rhetoric and metaphors in the world, and she will cut open the last self. There was nothing left after that and she chose to die.
The biggest difference in "Letterhead Stories" is that it is a story told by a living person. What will life be like for a girl who survives childhood sexual assault? How will she view her past, and how will such injury change her life?
Before the film was released at Sundance, the director did some internal test screenings. She found psychologists, social workers and lawyers in related fields, all of whom gave it very high marks. This is the first time they have seen a movie that dissects underage sexual abuse so deeply. Even before that, they had never seen a movie that portrayed a real victim of sexual assault they saw around them.
From this level, the significance of "Letterhead Stories" is huge. Its birth also coincides with the occasion. If there is no Hollywood's vigorous "#Me Too" movement in the past year, even if it only came out a year or two earlier, perhaps it will be too real and even dazzling, and it will be selectively forgotten by the audience.
It's like... just like the little girl Jennifer in the film, like a real victim of sexual assault, facing such a huge pain, if they want to continue living, they can only forget.
93% of sexual assaults happen between acquaintances, and the same is true of Jennifer's story, when she was 13 when she was assaulted by her 40-year-old track coach. At that time, she thought it was love; she vaguely sensed that something was wrong, but the little girl's self-esteem did not allow her to deny her choice. So, until she was 47 years old, she still firmly believed that "it was just a first love".
It wasn't until the beginning of the film, "like a ray of light suddenly shining into a dimly lit room," that she began to re-examine her memory.
Jennifer said in an interview: "Most of the time, sexual assault is portrayed as a black and white thing. But the truth is more complicated and confusing. As a child, you feel loved, you feel very It's special, but at the same time you are being used by adults. Children can't tell the difference between these two feelings. This is the essence of sexual abuse by minors."
The 14-year-old Spanish actress Isabel Nelise contributed a very amazing performance. Not only is she experienced, she has played mother and daughter with a model worker in "Mom" before; in terms of appearance, she also perfectly meets the director's requirements.
Just like the real victim, Isabel, who was only 11 years old at the time of the shooting, was small and unremarkable, but an ordinary adolescent girl. But looks were never the reason they were chosen.
The director on the set made perfect protection for her. During filming, the little girl's mother was present, all the producers were present, a Screen Actors Guild staff member and a psychologist were also present. Isabelle had read the script, she knew what her character was going through, but the director never gave her sexual instructions.
In the film, her bed scene with her teacher was filmed separately. Isabelle was standing alone in front of a vertical bed, and the director said to her, "Imagine being stung by a bee right now. How painful is that?" They were actually shooting her first night.
All scenes requiring nudity and intimacy were shot by an adult stuntman. According to Louisiana's child protection regulations, the actor who plays the gym teacher in the film is not even allowed to have any physical contact with Isabelle.
But the most "cunning" casting may come from the sexual predators in the film. These two people, you can hardly even distinguish the mastermind and the accomplice.
Jason Ritter, who plays the track and field coach, may be regarded as a jewel among Hollywood actors. Although he is still unknown, he is really endearing enough. He is not only tall and handsome, but more importantly, his eyes are gentle and reliable enough.
The other exploiter, the elegant and beautiful equestrian trainer, is played by Elizabeth Debicki. If you have watched "The Great Gatsby", you must still remember this Australian tall girl with an elegant temperament and a height of nearly 1.9 meters. She played the role of Jordan Baker in the film.
Even if you do your homework before watching the movie, when you actually see these two actors appear, it is still hard to imagine that the sexual predator will have such a face. Just as when reading "Fang Siqi's Paradise of First Love", it is difficult for you to imagine what Li Guohua, who is "personal, extraordinary in appearance and full of wealth", will look like. It was probably such a kind, deceitful face.
In the beginning, you got along day and night. They taught you to ride horses, teach you to run, and share some little secrets with you. You are full of admiration. That's the best man and woman you've ever met.
When did everything start to cross the line? Maybe one day, he suddenly said to you, I understand you better than your parents. In other words, we can build a deeper bond, we can build a small society with only ourselves.
You are ignorant. One second he's asking you to read his poems, the next he's begging you to take off your shirt.
On the first night of your thirteenth year, he said, you are not ready, it does not matter, I am more patient than a young boy, we will slowly open your body together. Then press your head under his waist.
For Jennifer Fox, the film is never about whether she was sexually assaulted, which is beyond question; more importantly, why and how it happened.
Jennifer Fox was undoubtedly the kind of victim they wanted. She comes from a good family, but has four siblings; her parents are too busy with their careers to take care of themselves. Therefore, she is born with a lack of love, is introverted and sensitive, and is too precocious. Can't wait to step into the adult world and be treated like an adult.
She thought she got respect and love from the relationship. No one has ever encouraged her like that, good girl, you're beautiful, you're special, you're so talented, you're the one I've been waiting for, and I hope you can see you in my eyes.
She thought she was special, she thought this unique love made her grow up. But in fact, this is just the usual routine of all perpetrators, without exception. Always such rhetoric, always such seduction, she is not special, she is just one of thousands of victims.
Another special feature of "Letterhead Stories" is that Jennifer describes this whole reversal of memories with great precision. This kind of expression itself is rare, and perhaps it is also due to her original acumen as a documentary director-making this film more than just a straightforward drama in form.
At first, she thought that the thirteen-year-old herself was a beautiful girl who was a perfect match for the coach. But when she opened her childhood photo album, she found that she was as thin and small as a bean sprout at that time, looking ordinary and cowardly.
This is us in childhood: always so self-righteous, but the real you is far less mature than you think.
There are many moments in the film where the fourth wall is broken, with 13-year-old Jennifer facing the camera and speaking directly to her current self. Even the two will appear directly in the same space.
You watched the 13-year-old step into the abyss step by step. She experienced great sorrow and joy, blushing, happiness, hesitation, and pain. But when she turned to face the camera, she looked firm, even stubborn: Do you think I am a poor victim? I am not a victim, what I have is a unique experience, and I am a winner. This is my life.
You suddenly realize: this is not only a memory, this is the most difficult tug of war in the deepest part of Jennifer's heart.
It's so hard to convince yourself. What she wants to make herself believe is not just "he violated me", she shreds her own beliefs. She once firmly believed that it was a love, and it was that juvenile love that made her life and made her who she is now.
And now, it's not just the person who hurt her that she wants to identify. It was the same person she loved. She has to point to her misjudgment, she has to point to the biggest failure of her life.
She was just one of the thousands of girls he coaxed, but he left a lifetime imprint on her.
She thought she was accomplished, but that was only because he happened to appear in her puberty, and everything that happened in puberty would accomplish her. But without him, she would have had more. He ruined her.
You see, there is absolutely no love between adults and minors.
Their relationship has been unequal from the beginning, and this asymmetry even exceeds age, IQ, experience, knowledge, status... This is the asymmetry between life stages and life stages.
From this level, the film also shows an extremely rich dimension. Most sexual assault-themed films describe the incident itself; however, "Letterhead Stories" tries to explore the story behind it and really get to the heart of the victim.
Once tapped to the spiritual level, this is also a youth film, a coming-of-age story. But for the director, her adolescence was so long, and the trauma had been dormant in her heart. It was not until more than 30 years later that she was forced to face the deepest suffering of drowning again.
And she finally realized that maybe some wounds will never heal, maybe you think you have healed, but one day, some new wounds will emerge. It takes a lifetime to deal with these traumas until it becomes a part of you as well.
You will always be an incomplete person.
View more about The Tale reviews
