Madeline’s Madeline
Directed by JOSEPHINE DECKER
Starring HELENA HOWARD MOLLY PARKER MIRANDA JULY
Released 10 MAY
On a beach, a turtle is born. It erupts from its egg and crawls across the sand, desperate to reach the ocean. Via the camera’s point of view, the viewer shares in the creature’s exciting and daunting adventure. Already in, is personal and vivacious, easily matching the relentlessly curious spirit of its heroine. Madeline (the astonishing Helena Howard) is a 16-year-old actress who immerses herself fully in her reptilian character. From the safety and warmth of the small theatre stage used by her class, she can reach the sea and feel the turtle’s survival instinct in her bones. Acting is too often described simply as the ability to pretend – to be someone else, to feel or want certain things. But Madeline is a wonderful experimental actor, not because she can pretend and lie, but due to her boundless imagination and an abundance of empathy. Acting, when it’s good, is the ability to open onesself up to all kinds of emotions, however foreign they might be to subjective experience.
