I found the movie to be pretty interesting at times; a beautiful and bitter exploration of an uncommunicative mind. The film deals with the themes of loneliness. Muriel is a budding woman, who just wants to be connected, while also being ignorant of her mother. Laura is a middle-aged woman who wants to settle down by having children. And Muriel's mother, Martha, is an old woman re-experiencing the flames of passion with another man, while being ignored by her daughter. Basically, they all want love and sex. As Muriel is our protagonist, she travels through the city life with experiences of jealousy, envy and eventual redemption from her loneliness, through a mother's affection.
So yeah, that's what the movie is. A movie about a girl. I felt pretty chilled out, with the calm-inducing background music, as Muriel walks around the city. Falls a little bit apart during the 3rd act, but redeems itself, by the end. A good one time watch.
7 Reviews
A very touching movie, just real life as it is sometimes.
hetinnoke27 August 2004
The story of Muriel, a young girl who leaves her parents, moves to Brussels to live alone and work for her own money, and the people around her: Laura who gives her a room for rent, her mother Martha who wants her youth back after 35 years of marriage, Oscar the ex of Laura...
There's not much story... It's more like a piece taken out of reality, stylized and put into film.There's no good or bad in the movie, every character has problems, makes mistakes and self-reflects on his/her thoughts and actions, without doing anything better next time.
To some this might sound really boring, but life is boring for most and people don't learn from their mistakes in reality as well. It's a movie best seen on your own, to be left alone with your feelings.
There's not much story... It's more like a piece taken out of reality, stylized and put into film.There's no good or bad in the movie, every character has problems, makes mistakes and self-reflects on his/her thoughts and actions, without doing anything better next time.
To some this might sound really boring, but life is boring for most and people don't learn from their mistakes in reality as well. It's a movie best seen on your own, to be left alone with your feelings.
Generations of women
Anal_Foam12 September 2002
"Meisje" ( dutch for girl ) is the tale of 3 women at crossroads in their life. Muriel, a lost girl, breaks away from her home, her steady boyfriend and the socially crippling qualities of her home town, to gain and enjoy her independence in Brussels. She moves in with the uninhibited and lively Laura, a woman with a chaotic lifestyle and the growing desire of motherhood. Martha, Muriel's mother, follows her progress from afar, and finds herself breaking away from her routine and rediscovering a long forgotten childhood dream. Their lives cross over until they all meet up during a turbulent night. "Meisje" is a movie about the incredible power that drives women.
this isn't really a comment, just a synopsis for people looking for info about the movie
this isn't really a comment, just a synopsis for people looking for info about the movie
Boring psychological study
silverauk12 September 2002
This story about three women is a very sensitive study about: Muriël (Charlotte Van Den Eynde) the youngest, Laura (Els Dottermans) who is about 37 and Martha (Frieda Pittors) the oldest who is the mother of Muriël. They live together in the same building. They have different expectations of life. The vital Laura wants a child. Muriël comes from a village and wants to change her life in Brussels. Martha dreams about her youth when she was a young girl. In fact nothing happens in this movie so you wait for something - for instances an accident - which could dramatize this story. As times goes on, you discover that the director Dorothée Van Den Berghe only wants to develop a psychological portrait of the three women and nothing more. This movie is disappointing because you expect the women to learn from their experiences which is not the case, so one is left with a feeling of emptiness.
Brilliant, delicate movie!
ewok27130 June 2003
This movie is another Must-see. Kind of like Fucking Amal, here also a girl (20) wants to discover the world. She leaves here village to go to the big city, but gets involved in some disappointing events. Her tries to discover love and sex are displayed very delicately, and the actress is convincing in her reservedness. She takes things as they are, not commenting but clearly showing her aversion against how things go in Brussels. Maybe some superfluous sexually tinted scenes, but not disturbing the delicate atmosphere. In other words, if you have the chance to see it, GO!! Don't expect much action, but the psychological portrait is brilliant.
Growing up is never easy
Travis_Bickle017 September 2005
This movie was a pleasant surprise for me. Not only did it have a well written story, the acting was amazing as well, specially Charlotte Vanden Eynde. I think she should have won the Joseph Plateau Award, because her performance was much more superior than Els Dottermans' performance.
Something more about the story now, because this might be the main reason why I liked this movie so much. I saw a similar situation in my family and I thought this movie told a very realistic and touching story. What we see is a young girl with a desperate hunger for independence and a mother who's afraid of losing her daughter. This was the aspect I loved the most about "Meisje". Muriel wanted to stand on her own feet, she wanted to be no longer independent from everyone, she wanted to make a new start. And when you're dreaming of this new start, you think everything will work out easily and your life will be great in no time... but the problem is that it's never as easy as it seems. Starting all over again is tough and you do need people around you who you can trust and who you can count on. Everyone needs someone who takes care of them.
It's exactly this aspect that I was touched by the most. "Meisje" is a sensitive and great Belgian movie which tells a story of growing up, closing chapters and starting new ones. It's a wonderful movie and Charlotte Vanden Eynde is definitely the star of the show.
8,5/10
Something more about the story now, because this might be the main reason why I liked this movie so much. I saw a similar situation in my family and I thought this movie told a very realistic and touching story. What we see is a young girl with a desperate hunger for independence and a mother who's afraid of losing her daughter. This was the aspect I loved the most about "Meisje". Muriel wanted to stand on her own feet, she wanted to be no longer independent from everyone, she wanted to make a new start. And when you're dreaming of this new start, you think everything will work out easily and your life will be great in no time... but the problem is that it's never as easy as it seems. Starting all over again is tough and you do need people around you who you can trust and who you can count on. Everyone needs someone who takes care of them.
It's exactly this aspect that I was touched by the most. "Meisje" is a sensitive and great Belgian movie which tells a story of growing up, closing chapters and starting new ones. It's a wonderful movie and Charlotte Vanden Eynde is definitely the star of the show.
8,5/10
Learn another word
Aleluya16 March 2004
Warning: Spoilers
*SPOILERS*(assuming that there is something to be spoiled). Now, this is one of this kind of movies that when you go through it leaves you with this uncomfortable feeling of "I really don't know enough about cinema (or about anything else)to be able to judge it". Much better, because I probably would be unable to handle a judgement anyway...Anyway, what I mean is that this is exactly what people understands when they refer to each other with sentences of the like: "you gotta go watch this film because it's such a piece of independent cinema". I'm doubtful about what the hell independent cinema is, but sure this ressembles the rumours I heard about it. If a good movie has to be entertaining, then this is certainly the nightmare of any viewer. If it is to make you think, then it's probably brilliant. In a very freudian fashion this movie basically deals with the points of view in life of three woman (as if one wasn't enough...), and their discoveries in life throughout the film (none). It is all very delicate (which I am grateful for, because it contains a few uncanny and disgraceful sex scenes) but also very bitter; You constantly feel sorry for the characters, which is annoying, because at some point (if you are a woman, I guess) you might be identified with any of them. I can tell you it is not nice to feel some ressemblance with them when at the same time you are willing to scream something like "god's sake, girl, get a life and stop acting like an asshole". I also think the director has exagerated the screenplay (it's uncomfortably unbelievable sometimes, or at least it is to be a "realistic" movie), but she has anyway picked the right actresses. And I am really grateful for the hidden sense of humor that emerges randomly even in the scenes of more psicological pathetism, it basically helps to don't wish to crash your head against a glass at the end of the session. But, what is it with the so closed shots? We were almost eating Muriel...did I forget to say that the main character's name was Muriel? A pretty name, and as it all talks of abscence and memory it is probably adequate, it reminded me to Bresson and his kind of movies, and to the name of one of them of course. Yeah, it is all like a hit of new wave, but, well, with technicolor and dolby digital spiced with dutch sentences.
Did I say I like it...?It is only against the characters I'm mad at, not against the film itself...
Did I say I like it...?It is only against the characters I'm mad at, not against the film itself...
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