One of the better and more audacious films from last year is one I have only recently seen, entitled Personal Velocity (2002). Rebecca Miller, daughter of playwright Arthur Miller, adapted her own book and has directed the film, which is subtitled Three Portraits because it tells three separate, non-connected stories.
All three stories focus on women in some sort of flux, and viewers should know that the stories have no traditional beginnings or endings; this is true slice-of-life filmmaking.
The first woman to be profiled is Delia (Kyra Sedgwick), a former teenage tomcat who married young and has had two children with the first man who treated her with respect. Now, unfortunately, he has turned abusive, endangering her and the kids. Delia makes a choice, knowing that it will change her life, and that of her children, forever.
The second woman to be profiled is Greta (Parker Posey), a book editor and wife of a semi-successful writer. Greta gets the opportunity to edit the book of a famous writer, an experience which makes her professionally successful and changes the way in which she views her own life and her feelings for her dull but faithful husband.
The third woman to be profiled is Paula (Fairuza Balk), a troubled young woman who has just discovered that she is pregnant, news which causes her to temporarily leave her boyfriend. While traveling to tell her mother and stepfather, she happens on a young man with more troubles then herself. Having come from a broken home herself, Paula knows what he is facing, and she takes pity on him, thereby altering both of their lives.
Personal Velocity is, as the title suggests, highly personal in its presentation. These are stories about real people, in real situations, with no easy answers to complex problems. Each story has its own tone and atmosphere, but they all, at least ultimately, share a strong sense of hopefulness. These women are strong enough to take care of themselves, and they are going to have to do so, because they not be able to depend on anyone else.
Despite these generalities, the three stories are singular. Each woman is in her own situation, and life experiences vary in meaning from woman to woman. For instance, sex means empowerment to Delia, but Greta views it as commitment to her husband and freedom with her new lover. Violence, seen or implied, is present and threatening in one story, tragic in another.
I didn’t mind that these stories had no traditional closing points, although I wished that all of them had continued and lasted longer. The second is the most self-contained, the first is the most audacious and the third is the most affecting. All of the actresses give tremendous, utterly believable performances and prove that this type of independent cinema can be more rewarding than Hollywood epics. Personal Velocity is available on VHS and DVD. My rating: ✰ ✰ ✰ ½. (4:4).