PHOEBE IN WONDERLAND (2008)
Thursday, 10:00 pm, Newcomb
Director: Daniel Barnz
Writer: Daniel Barnz
Cinematographer: Bobby Bukowski
Cast: Felicity Huffman, Elle Fanning, Patricia Clarkson
Running Time: 96 min
Phoebe in Wonderland is an artfully layered tale about a young girl struggling to fit in. Elle Fanning (younger sister of Dakota Fanning) stars as Phoebe, a nine-year-old girl who finds herself fighting against the rules that confine her. Despite her inappropraite outbursts, Phoebe is an intelligent and creative child who worships the story of Alice in Wonderland. Although she often finds herself in the principle’s office, Phoebe finds solace in her friendship with Miss Dodger (Patricia Clarkson), the eccentric school drama teacher.
Phoebe’s mother Hillary (Felicity Huffman) is writing a book on Alice in Wonderland that expounds upon her doctoral essay from years before. Both mother and daughter share a sense of disappointment in the rigidity of the real world and long to escape to somewhere more exciting. Phoebe sees the story as a way to grow closer to her mother. When Phoebe lands a part in the school play Hillary, who is struggling with her writing, looks to her daughter for inspiration
First time writer/director Daniel Barnz provides an imaginative story that Sundance describes as “rather like a kaleidoscope, in that what you see and get out of it shifts and changes depending on which character’s perspective you’re looking [through], and what ideas you bring” to the table yourself. Phoebe in Wonderland explores parenting and growing up from all different angles as it transports the viewer into the thick of a nine-year-old girl’s experience. The film was widely praised at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival, with special accolades going to Elle Fanning, whom reviewers said was at least as talented as her sister, Dakota: “How these little girls are able to summon such powerful reserves of fear and anguish and terror, I have no idea. I’m not really sure I want to know, to be honest,” wrote Mike D’Angelo of ScreenGrab.
