You only have one first love.
Moreover, it always comes suddenly without notice, and you are not allowed to pick and choose.
First love is always wrong - it's hard to get it right the first time;
First love can always go wrong—no one expects you to get it right the first time you get there.
But in the movie "Baby Teeth", the girl Mila was terminally ill in her cardamom years. She has only one chance to taste the sweet wine of love.
This first love is also her "last love".
And the one who poured her this glass of wine was Moses, a troubled boy who was a bit older than her.
At the beginning of the film, when "love" was approaching, Mila was really "bumped in the waist" on the train platform.
This middle-class good boy, whose life was quiet and peaceful, was either taking piano lessons or thinking about finding a male prom partner, but suddenly fell in love with the wild and strange Moses.
And when they first met, Moses borrowed money from her—not a good omen for romance.
Did "love" lead her to this kamikaze-like self-destructive little slick, or did they cherish each other because his future was no brighter than hers?
Actually, Mira is not stupid.
She just wanted to "be stupid" for one person.
She has a gossamer fragility and a moth-like teenage yearning for the present—to increase the weight of Dasein before the end of time.
As a movie about terminal illness, this movie is special. Not only did it not disclose the specific disease, it did not give a single shot to doctors and hospitals, but also rejected the bucket-list and carpe diem. The process of going through a terminal illness also elevates the meaning of Mira and even the situation of the family.
It's not that she makes a list of things she wants to experience and ticks them off, but a torrent of out-of-body desires that engulfs her, even with the heartbreak of the adult world that ensues.
To show Mila's struggles between childhood and adulthood, director Shannon Murphy deftly jumps to the way the world is and what Mila wants:
From the bright fluorescent light of the claws, the colorful chapter titles of a girl's diary, to the turquoise color of the backyard swimming pool water, to the warm orange skin lit by the bedside lamp...
From soul to electronica to murmured classical strings...
Whether it's someone who's been through the throes of adolescence and needs space to breathe, or a parent trying to protect their daughter from the chaotic world and their own drag, the pain of having a baby tooth is unforgettable.
All the participants in this family crisis are more like each other than they like to admit.
Moody, one idea for a while, Moses sometimes looks like a mischievous shadow of Mira.
And Mila's parents are just as melancholy as she is:
As soon as he appeared, he had sex in his father's study; before the gun was fired, it ended hastily.
Afterwards, he wrote about his father clumsily approaching the pregnant female neighbor, only to succeed until the third time, only to escape as if electrocuted, revealing the smoldering energy in his body.
The only weak bond that held their marriage together was Mira, whom they were about to lose.
Adapted by screenwriter Rita Kalnejais from her own stage play, the film seems to be on the verge of getting out of control, but it's actually very well-structured.
At first, the film depicts Mila's middle-class Aussie family on the verge of collapse, and made me think it was an "Australian Beauty" (similar to "American Beauty").
It was only later discovered that it was a tragicomedy, each moment light and heavy, humorous and painful.
Mila's death is particularly well handled: at first glance what appears to be a parody of "The Wild Rose of Paris" (37°2 le matin) is actually a false climax.
Even the final scene after Mila's death is a flashback of fond memories -- or fantasies, a lighthearted reckoning.
View more about Babyteeth reviews
