Lamberto Sanfelice's Cloro is a solid coming of age story that relies heavily on the fully developed characterization of its main protagonist, Jenny, to tell it's tale of sacrifice, and ultimately what it truly means to be responsible. Seventeen, Jenny dreams of becoming a synchronized swimmer, but she quickly finds her adolescence shattered with the sudden death of her mother. With her father becoming practically comatose due to the deep-seeded depression, and a nine year old brother to take care of, Jenny's life is completely uprooted, as she is forced to move to the desolate mountain village near her uncle. One of the first things that jumped out to me about Chlorine is how Jenny is a character who is weighted down, reluctant to accept the unfairness of life. While many coming of age stories tend to gloss over this form of reluctancy, Chlorine embraces it in it's characterization of Jenny, a character who has essentially been stripped away from her passion by conditions out of her control. Jenny is a character who simply cannot accept the unfairness of life at first, and the film is empathetic to that notion, documenting this visually in a powerful way. The setting of Chlorine is desolate, creating a sense of isolation and solitude, with every empty parking lot and desolate field evoking the feelings felt by Jenny as she feels all alone. Another small fascinating detail is the utter lack of background characters or extras in the entire film, a small but brilliant decision that evokes this me against the world, isolated perspective of Jenny's character. It is only through the relationship Jenny forms with a foreign man, who is an outsider himself, that she begins to see that her story isn't unique, which in turn leads to Jenny's awakening of sorts. In the end, its merely the opportunity to return home and resume her synchronized swimming that triggers Jenny's "coming of age" to the audience, as she begins to have doubts due to the feelings of responsibility towards her brother and family. Coming of age stories have become a dime a dozen in contemporary independent cinema, and while Chlorine may not be exceptional, it's a solid story of a young girl coming to terms of what responsibility means, and the importance of family over self.
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AuthorLove of all things cinema brought me here. Archives
June 2023
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