Palindromes

Todd Solondz is nothing if not ambitious. In Palindromes, one of his less accessible films, Aviva his lead character is played by one girl, then a boy, then four girls and finally by two women and the story is largely about how Aviva wants to have a baby and be a young mother but she will have to run away in order to be able to do so. Along the line, the story digresses and we meet a vigilante squad who take it out on those who advocate abortion.

It’s a hard film to fathom and even more to like. For me, it was moving in circles around a main theme regarding children who are unloved by their parents, who often then get involved in relationships and as teens because of a poor upbringing, they are then unable to cope with the social pressures, and many unexpected pregnancies then result. The household in the middle of the film ran by Mama Sunshine was particularly interesting since it revealed both a house of love but also those conspiring through hate.

Its easy therefore to see Palindromes as an issue movie namely that its about central point that much of the film is about love (or as shown in the film, the lack of it) not that the director himself may have seen it that way. Its opened to mixed reviews so far and is unlikely to draw in only the most curious punters.

Matt Arnoldi