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Personal Velocity

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Personal Velocity is the story of three different women who collide with a life crisis at different times in their lives. Delia (Kyra Sedgwick) has frequently been abused by the man she loves, a love that has tied her down and made her incapable of escaping, but now she realizes that it is time for a change. Greta (Parker Posey) is mourning the death of her mother as she has settled down due to her parents divorce that is the origin for her hate for infidelity. On the exterior she displays a person who is content with what life has to offer her; however, when a big time author asks her to be his editor, she has a chance to get back to where she once was, on the top of the world. The question is whether she can take steps to remove the ties that hold her down. Paula (Fairuza Balk) has recently witnessed a traumatic death and found out that she is pregnant with a child. Confused, she begins to drive home to see her mother as she is desperate for some guidance or a sign. On the way she sees a hitch hiker, a teenager, that she interprets as a sign so she picks him up. The three women are reaching their life decisions at different velocities in their lives. Their personal velocities are clearly represented as one has children, one does not even think of having any, and the third has one on the way. This makes the story unique in regards to women and their choices, which often are influenced by external factors. In the end, Miller provides an intelligent and excellent cinematic experience.

Rebecca Miller's Personal Velocity is comprised of three short films: Delia, Greta, and Paula. The characters span location, socio-economic background, and age but are psychologically threaded by the common experience of a crisis pertinent to each's feminine identity. The movie's interest in women may garner the misperception of it as a feminist polemic, but Miller's vision is more humanitarian than political. It's one of those movies that, even when unsuccessful, seems genuinely curious about human beings.

In exploring battered wife, Delia (Kyra Sedgewick) Miller uses flashbacks to show her deep-seated confusion with sex and power as a promiscuous teenager. Greta reiterrates such themes, but as opposed to Delia's battered wife syndrome, these now impenetrable psychological depths actually produce societally acceptable behavior. The more Greta (the deft Parker Posey) succumbs to her innate moral inscrutability, the greater success she earns in her profession as a book editor. The final short, Paula is much less clear in its themes, and you can see Miller exploring truly dangerous territory, feeling around for a lightswitch in the dark. It follows a young quasi-homeless goth woman (Fairuza Balk) whose quest for love and motherhood become manifested in unconditional love and care for a terribly abused hitchhiking boy. Though this short seems spiritually disconnected from the first two, I like its dark, emblematic emotions (ripe with abortion metaphors and images of child torture) and Balk's performance is appropriately painful.

Miller's larger point, I think, is to show a battle between these women's present goals and their histories which, whether or not they like it, dictate their decisions. I applaud Miller for exploring such quandaries and being able to convey them in artful, engrossing entertainment.

Rebecca Miller's "Personal Velocity" is dull, drab and pretty much lifeless. It tells the story of three women who have little velocity, personal or otherwise. All three (Parker Posey, Kyra Sedgwick and Fairuzza Balk) are all without recourse, stuck in situations mostly of their own making and unwilling or unable to snap out of it and improve their lot.
Parker Posey as Greta a Cook Book editor, falls into a primo gig editing an up-an-coming fiction author and proceeds to mess it up making silly, unethical and un-professional choices. And Sedgwick as Delia, usually one to elicit sympathy, comes off as a pathetic slattern, undeserving of anything much more than pity. Balk as Paula rounds out this ungodly trio as a young woman bent on destruction who mostly succeeds.
I know that all of this is meant to be "real" and serve as a comment on Contemporary Woman but give me a break. We've all got it bad at some point in our lives but we also have it good a lot of the times. "Personal Velocity" ejects women back to the 1950's and beyond; a world in which women indeed had few choices but marriage and children and as such it not only demonizes Men, it degrades Women: those it is trying to glorify.

When the movie begins you feel a little dizzy. The camera shots (digital filming) are so close on the actors you feel somewhat suffocated and want to tell the cameraman "move back a little". This sort of filming takes time getting used to and until the end of the movie you feel you are inside the flesh and sweat of these people. The movie does no effort to give you good shots of its actors. You see the three heroines in very "ugly" moments with their make up running, etc. You are on top of them and in a way this "harsh" filming adds to your intimacy with the characters and the total immersing in the stories.
This is the story of three women, each one in a turning point in her life. I guess what the movie tries to show is this moment of revelation and understanding, where all pieces fall down in place. In fact, it sometimes reminded me of Raymond Carver harsh stories who deal with such brief moments in time. Here the story leads us to this personal discovery, after which nothing will be the same.
The first story is the story of Delia, a woman who used to have a personal feeling of that was when she was young, but this feeling was severely shattered through the years. Now, through a hard process of independence she gains this power again. Delia needs to remember she used to have strength. This is not the strength and power of love. Sadly, love weakened Delia. But now, in this stage of her life she needs her own power in order to survive. Since the movie "Phenomena" I have a soft spot in my heart for Kyra Sedgwick who was able to move me once again.
The second story is about Greta, a young ambitious editor. Greta has undergone a period where she rejected her father following his treatment of her mother. She used to be just like him when she was young but his actions caused her a sort of "numbness period" where she convinced herself that she could settle for a simple life with her loving, yet non ambitious husband. However, Greta' s true nature ("unfaithful" nature) comes out. She understands she is just like her father, full of ambitions and needs. This revelation causes her a lot of grief.
The last story is about Paula who shifts roles during the movie. From being a runaway girl, who could not handle a terrible accident she was part of, she turns on all her mother emotions and is now willing to take the responsibilities in her life.
The movie is absorbing and endearing. All characters are beautifully played and give you many hours of reflection and thoughts.

I bought this DVD before seeing it because I love the three actresses who are the main characters in the three stories. They are all awful. This unfortunate as all three of these actresses have shown their talent in other films.
The main problem with this film is the narration that continues over the entire film. The purpose of narration is to tell the viewer something that isn't already obvious, but this film uses narration to tell the most minute of details which is already obvious.
If you must see this, rent it, don't buy. Anyone who actually likes this film is welcome to my copy. I tried to sell it on ebay but no one wanted it.

Many of these reviews have given detailed descriptions of what the stories are about...so I won't delve more into that aspect. I want to add to that though the unifying feature to the three stories -- which is finding what is "moving" each of these characters forward. It is admirable that the movie doesn't give the answers, just gives the human beings. Of the three I found the last story -- Paula and the hitchhiker, to be the most moving, and redeeming. The connection between Paula and the wounded character played by Lou Taylor Pucci is palable and heartbreaking -- conveyed by their eyes. It is about feeling for another person -- and in the feeling Paula expresses (now emerging from her state of shock) she identifies with the hurt she sees in the boy. She sees how vulnerable he is -- notices he is just like a little boy, just a baby -- and had been hurt, tortured really -- then she wants to take him home and protect him. The boy can't trust that, however. Both actors had heartbreaking, expressive eyes -- and it is enlightening to see a film about love that is not about sex, but about caring and protecting another.

Personal Velocity, written and directed by Rebecca Miller (and based on her book) tells three stories of women at crossroads in their lives. A film that is divided into separate stories must overcome certain challenges. Short stories, if they are good, can still leave the reader a little unsatisfied. This may be even more true of short films, as even a two hour movie tends to have less depth than a book. It is also common for stories to be of unequal quality. Personal Velocity, however, succeeds in creating three engaging half hours with some powerful performances. I found all three equally entertaining. The first character we meet is Delia (Kyra Sedgwick), a woman fleeing from an abusive husband with her three young children. While this is a familiar, movie-of-the-week situation, Sedgwick is completely believable as the hurt, angry and uncertain Delia as she attempts to make a new start. Parker Posey, a distinguished veteran of many independent films is the star of the second tale. She is Greta, an editor who unexpectedly finds success working with a famous novelist (who makes a pass at her). Greta is married to a man who is nice, intelligent but lacking in ambition and she finds herself wondering if he will fit in with her new future. There is a great contrast between the first two episodes. The first is set in the rural working class of upstate New York, the second among Manhattan's literary chic. The third tale changes pace once again. Paula (Fairuza Balk) is a woman who has just been traumatized by a tragic accident. Driving aimlessly, she picks up a young hitchhiker who turns out to be another victim of a violent event. Paula drives with the boy to her mother's house, which does not turn out to be much of a refuge. Both the first and last segment deal with rather depressing circumstances, but both leave us with the sense that the women have left the worst behind them and are ready to begin a new and better life; the same is true of the second story, though its overall tone is more upbeat. Personal Velocity is about just that; characters who overcome the unpredictable challenges of their surroundings by the force of their own wills. The film was shot digitally, which works well with its focused, microcosmic perspective.

As so many films are told from the perspective of a male protagonist, it's refreshing to see a movie in which men are the secondary characters and we get to watch a woman deal with an ongoing conflict that is the narrative focus from beginning to end. "Personal Velocity" is actually three short films, but the effect is the same. Each of the central characters faces a complication that overturns her world and requires her to find a new way of living her life. Each of them is strong, comes across as three-dimensional, and makes us care what happens to them. Interestingly, male characters play a role in their transformation, but in ways that make these women even more self-reliant and resolved.

The opening story is a neatly crafted account of a working class woman who regains her independence after marriage to an abusive husband (the flashes of his violence are shocking and brutal). But it's not enough that she takes her children and escapes. She must regain her emotional independence as well, and she finds herself in a situation where she must free herself again; this time from the leeringly casual abuse of a younger man who enjoys taunting her with invitations to sex. When she is done with him, you see her finally achieve the personal power (velocity) she once had as a younger woman.

The stories of the other two women are likewise well crafted, each taking a journey that has parallels with the first but explores different narrative terrain. One is a more comic tale of a young educated woman who through luck and circumstance becomes a "late bloomer" and suddenly outgrows her cute, devoted husband (a fact checker for the New Yorker), as well as a jerky, condescending former classmate and an overbearingly successful father. (It's his observation that she's achieved her own "personal velocity," and coming from the mouth of an unsympathetic character, the title of the film takes on a certain irony.)

The last story is (according to the director in her commentary) a quickly assembled piece that uses conventions of the road movie to tell the story of a young woman who ventures into what may become a romantic interlude with a young man who is suddenly killed by a passing car. The abrupt shift of the story sends her reeling, and she becomes involved with another male companion, a troubled and physically abused boy she picks up on the road. By the end of the story, her car stolen, she is able to find the direction she wants to take, and she sets off afoot, having discovered a self confidence that until now has eluded her.

The three sections of the film are clearly dramatized short stories, an effect that is reinforced by a narrator's voice-overs. There are mixed opinions about the use of this device in film, but it works here as a distancing technique that reinforces these as stories and not just visual slices of life. In the middle story especially, but in all of them, it intensifies the ironies of what we're seeing. The news reports of the pedestrian fatality in the early stories ironically weave them together with the final story, in which that fatality occurs. We're reminded that, for all the differences among them, these characters inhabit the same universe, though they are strangers to each other.

The digital filming and brisk editing give an edginess to the visuals. And the performances are fine. The commentaries on the DVD add a level of appreciation, as they often do for indie films made under severe constraints but with utter dedication. I recommend this film to anyone interested in movies about women's lives. It is sharp, intelligent, and emotionally engaging.

This movie is the story of three woman, told in separate segments. Each of the characters has to some extent engaged in self-delusion as to who they really are as persons and each one finds herself in the midst of a major life crisis. As each character deals with their situation, they begin to find out who they really are as persons and to find a possible path to self liberation, happiness and fulfillment in their lives.
Delia(Kyra Sedgwick), is an abused wife and mother, who finds personal liberation by finding the courage to finally leave her abusive husband, and then rediscovers her personal dignity and power through her sexuality.
Greta(Parker Posey), is a wife and daughter, who has lost touch with herself, first by being caught in the middle in a struggle between her powerful, ambitious father and her weaker, more fragile mother for her love and affection, then later in an act of rebellion against her father, by ending up in a loving but passionless marriage in which she has suppressed all her own personal ambitions. An opportunity for success rekindles in her all her own passions and ambition, as she struggles to finally break free from the influence of her parents, to come to terms with her husband and marriage and to be who she really is as a person.
Paula(Fairuza Balk) is a young woman, who finds herself pregnant and who after a terrible accident, in a state of shock starts out on a journey to try and escape and make sense of what is happening to her. An encounter with an abused runaway, helps her refocus on her own plight and discover her own ability to care about others besides her self.
All the acting in the film is excellent, but Parker Posey as Greta really stands out. This is the first film that makes use of Parker's ability as an actress to convey emotion and internal conflict, without dialog, simply by the expression on her beautiful face, and it is absolutely stunning to watch. She turns Greta, who could have been very unsympathetic, into a character that one can care about.
The film looks and sounds beautiful on DVD. The DVD extras include a nice commentary by Rebecca Miller, and a wonderful conversation with Parker, Fairuza, Kyra and Rebecca about the characters and the making of the movie.
This beautifully written, beautifully acted movie is very intelligent and very complex. One that makes the viewer think deeply. Which in an age of almost total shallowness in the majority of films (all flash, no thought!), a movie that stimulates thought is a true breath of fresh air.
There are no tight, neatly wrapped up endings in this movie, you have no way of knowing if the characters have made the right choices in their lives. This makes it tough for audiences and critics to embrace this movie, but if you do look deeply at it, and think about it, you will come to appreciate and love it.

How is it, that this film, recieved an award for cinematography?
The problem with films made by people of literature is that they are often non-visual. Miller uses an awful voice over technique where a narrator narrates sections of her book over a series of still images. The idea may sound nice but the result is irritating and un-cinematic.

The acting in Personal Velocity is quite strong which is what saves the film. Ebert said "My thoughts were focused on the characters. That is a compliment to Kuras and Miller. If I had been thinking about the visual medium, they would have been doing something wrong." This is a story of three women. Each story is distinct from the other. In each story we hear a newscaster talk about a tragic car accident which claimed a life. We later find out the woman in the last story was almost killed in that accident. But unfortunatley there is no real payoff to why we hear the newscaster announce the accident in the first story. All in all this is a good film, highly enjoyable and i'm some will love it. I also recomend "A Summers Tale" by Eric Rohmer, although a world apart it is a fantastic briliant film about a guy and three women.