film criticism by maryann johanson | celebrating 25 years: 1997–2022
One of the most beautiful movies I’ve ever seen. It is impossibly small, and emotionally immense, full of the most bittersweet of pathos that the coming-of-age genre offers. A treasure, and a gift.
Now updated with all the winners…
Mad Max: Fury Road gets a lot of love…
This is an excellent example of how stories about women can become expressions of universal experience (like, the kind that men have too).
Beautifully portrays a very universal experience — not only of immigration but of growing up — via an elegantly nuanced performance by Saoirse Ronan.
Gives new depth of meaning to the word “hagiography.”
