Stella Does Tricks
(British)
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Stella - Kelly MacDonald
Mr. Peters - James Bolam
Eddie - Hans Mathieson
McGuire - Ewan Stewart
Fitz - Andy Serkis
Chris - Paul Chahidi
Young Stella - Lindsay Henderson
MacDonald (the gutsy Diane in "Trainspotting") plays Stella, a Glasgow teen who's first seen walking through a London park in a short dress and pigtails, and then calmly services a gent on a park bench while holding an ice cream cone with her other hand. The sequence's striking mixture of deadpan comedy, poetic realism and the sheer unexpected sets the tone for much of what is to come.
As becomes clear from the patchwork construction of the opening reels, Stella is a school-age prostie who can already turn tricks with the best of them but still enjoys a giggle about sex with her girlfriends, a young group run by oily, paternalistic pimp Mr. Peters (former sitcom star James Bolam, in a smoothly evil performance), the very gent in the opening sequence. According to flashbacks to her childhood in Glasgow, and wish-fulfillment episodes (what Peters condescendingly dubs "Stella's flights of fancy"), she's also a dreamer, who's moved south to the capital to escape her abusive father, a no-hope club performer (Ewan Stewart).
When one of her friends is maltreated by small-time thug Fitz (Andy Serkis), Stella decides enough is enough. In company with Eddie (Hans Mathieson), a disaffected member of Fitz's gang, she first takes revenge on Fitz by blowing up his car and then prepares to get out of the game and start over. Peters lets her go, but not before he has her gang-raped by his bodyguards.
Stella still has a few more scores to settle before she bids her past goodbye. Traveling north to Glasgow with Eddie in tow, she first plays a prank on her dictatorial aunt and then visits her father backstage at one of his gigs, spraying lighter fuel on his pants and setting fire to his fly.
Reluctantly drawn to Eddie, who has a drug habit, she sets up home in his apartment and finally starts what looks like a new life, working as a streetside florist. But the reappearance of Peters, and Eddie's burgeoning habit, remind her that the circle is not so easy to break.
In its structure, and the dogged pursuit of the main character by society's dark side, the film sometimes plays like a modern gender switch on "Oliver Twist ," with Peters as Fagin and Eddie in the Nancy role. There are also several surface elements in common with "Trainspotting" notably, a nonjudgmental attitude toward its characters, a tough Scottish soul that blends rough humor and tragedy, and a central theme of escape south.
"Stella," however, has its own distinctive feel, with none of the previous film's highly designed look or angry, pop-culture energy. Drawing much of its inspiration from real-life stories Giedroyc came across when making the Channel 4 docu series "Letters From the Homeless" (1993), but softening its grungy setting with generally bright, colorful lensing and a warm, resonant score that underlines the positive elements, the picture is essentially a one-person character study of a tough little achiever who's sustained by her dreams, rejects the easy road of self-pity and even manages to turn the tables on her oppressors.
Though the childhood flashbacks present no problems, the film's regular seguing from reality to fantasy may trouble auds looking for another slice of Brit social realism, and occasionally Giedroyc and scripter Alison Kennedy overstep the mark (notably in a bakery sequence that could easily be cut). In general, however, the stylistic decision works especially in light of the pic's ending by making concrete the dreams that drive the character even when her world seems on the edge of collapse.
None of this would work, however, without MacDonald's powerhouse perf as Stella. Fronting a movie that's told entirely from her viewpoint, the diminutive Glaswegian, in only her second acting role, is simply terrific, whether releasing her anger by trashing parked cars as she totters down a street in heels, miniskirt and a teddy-bear backpack; confidently conning a john with what he thinks is rectally applied marijuana; or simply dreaming of a future whose shape she can't even see. When MacDonald is onscreen, even a more experienced performer like Bolam has to work hard to stay level. Only weak link in the other roles is Mathieson, who's physically right as Stella's druggie b.f. but flunks his later scenes when he's called on to do some real acting.
Despite the subject matter, there's no onscreen nudity and the language is relatively restrained. Technical credits are good given the obviously low budget , though dialogue is indistinct in some passages and some of the Scottish accents over-thick. As a matter of record, the film, which shot in London and Glasgow, was the first in production to benefit from the Scottish Arts Council Lottery Fund.
Camera (Metrocolor), Barry Ackroyd; editor, Budge Tremlett; music, Nick Bicat; production design, Lynne Whiteread; art direction, Tim Ellis; costume design, Annie Symons; sound (Dolby), Stuart Bruce, Paul Hamblin; assistant director, Nic Jeune. Reviewed at London Film Festival, Nov. 9, 1996. Running time: 97 MIN.
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