STELLA DOES TRICKS
SYNOPSIS:
Stella (MacDonald) lives with several other girls in a low-rent
B&B belonging to her pimp, Mr Peters (Bolam) who treats her
with an unpredictable mixture of kindness and cruelty. She goes
from one low rent client to another, haunted by childhood
memories of her stand up comedian father McGuire (Stewart) and
strict Auntie Aileen (Joyce Henderson) in Glasgow. When her best
friend Belle (Faulkner) is attacked by a local drug dealer, Fitz
(Serkis), Stella sets out to take revenge, accompanied by her
new-found hustler boyfriend, Eddie (Matheson). Peters gets wind
of her exploit and offers her a choice: clean up her act and stay
– or leave. She leaves, but Peters makes a cruel example of
her. Distraught, Stella shacks up with Eddie, and drags him to
Glasgow with her, where she seeks revenge.
"The cinematic devices used in this saddening film are
effective and valid, a mixture of flash-back and fantasy, evoking
both past events and present imaginings. This is metaphorically
appropriate, since the dramatic touch-points of the relationship
between the teenage Stella and her older man pimp/controller rely
on their disparate and desperate needs for ‘dreams’.
Nick Bicat’s evocative score for soul-o guitar (insistently
reminiscent of Neil Young’s work for Jim Jarmusch’s
memorable, Dead Man) is stirring. However, despite these
blessings and the stand out performances, the film ultimately
falls short of delivering us out of the darkness, partly because
of its obfuscating ending, a case perhaps of trying too hard. The
ugliness surrounding Stella, her unfortunate start in life and
unlucky progress through it, make for downbeat viewing, but with
no real sense of a journey to make it worthwhile. Of course it
has relevance by the bucketful, its Glaswegian bleakness thrust
at the screen with drug-loaded carelessness. But that –
indeed, all of that – is not always enough to create a film
that masters its subject, giving us a new insight into the human
condition. I’ve already seen what there is in Stella Does
Tricks, and I don’t mean to be a smart-arse cynic; it’s
just that in Stella’s story, I find nothing that teaches me
more than I already know. It does not fire my imagination. I feel
sad for her – but that is not the point."
Andrew L. Urban
"Disturbing, poignant and tragic, Stella Does Tricks is a
passionately told story, well constructed, but wavers somewhat
towards the end. The structure of Stella’s story told in
flashback is cinematically appealing, as we go from her life on
the streets to her troubled childhood. The performances are
terrific - with Kelly Macdonald, child-like, vulnerable, complex
and vindictive all at once. Her relationship with her pimp (James
Bolam, haunting) is filled with conflict - while she depends and
relies on him, she despises him and what he forces her to become;
Hans Matheson is convincing as Eddie. But it’s really images
of Kelly Macdonald as Stella with an ice cream cone, sitting
beside the leering Mr Peters, that will stay with you. There are
so many good things about Stella Does Tricks, that I was rather
disappointed that Stella’s catharsis did not eventuate in a
clear and more positive resolution. Then again, maybe that’s
the point. Either way, Kelly Macdonald’s performance alone
is worth the visit."
Louise Keller
"A major highlight of numerous film festivals, Stella
Does Tricks is a confronting yet rewarding film about a young
girl caught up in a world from which she’s endeavouring to
flee. Through the amazing and brave performance by new Scottish
star-on-the-rise Kelly MacDonald, Stella Does Tricks is as much
about confronting the past and facing a new future, than it is
about the violent pitfalls of prostitution. A chilling and
provocative tale, the film doesn’t attempt to gloss over the
issues, but rather face them head on. This is certainly
MacDonald’s film and she delivers a remarkably mature and
confident performance in a tough role. While James Bolam,
familiar to British audiences for his more comedic work, is
superb as the brutal pimp. Though similar to Scotland’s
Trainspotting, Stella is not as clever a film, perhaps, but
it’s still a powerful and mature work from a growing
Scottish industry. It has a haunting resonance and power that
keeps one thinking of it hours later. Though not for everyone,
Stella Does Tricks is a remarkable and haunting film."
Paul Fischer
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CRITICAL COUNT:
Favourable: 1
Unfavourable: 0
Mixed: 2
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See Paul Fischer's interview with
KELLY MacDONALD
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STELLA DOES TRICKS (R)
(UK)
CAST: Kelly MacDonald, James Bolam, Hans Metheson, Ewan
Stewart, Andy Serkis, Joyce Henderson, Richard Syms, Lindsay
Henderson, Paul Chahidi
DIRECTOR: Coky Giedroyc
PRODUCER: Adam Barker
SCRIPT: Alison Kennedy
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Barry Ackroyd
EDITOR: Budge Tremlett
MUSIC: Nick Bicat (additional music Tony Thorpe)
PRODUCTION DESIGN: Lynne Whiteread
RUNNING TIME: 97 minutes
AUSTRALIAN DISTRIBUTOR: New Vision
AUSTRALIAN RELEASE: April 30, 1998
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