Carrie [1976] (5 Stars)

IMDB recently sent me an email reminding me that it's prom season in the USA, recommending a few films that feature proms. "Carrie" was the first film in the list, and rightfully so. It's the first film that people think of when they talk about high school proms. I didn't have any of the other films in the list, but I immediately remembered another film that I own. Then a third film occurred to me. I decided to do a mini-marathon for the prom season. So when is the prom season? There isn't a fixed date, but usually it's the end of May, after the final exams. Some schools have the exams earlier, meaning that the senior prom is at the beginning of May, so the whole of May can be considered prom season.

Three films isn't enough for a marathon, so I've added a few more films that are about high schools in general. As I write this I have a list of seven films in front of me. I can think of other films, but I'll probably stick to these seven. Probably.

Incidentally, in Germany the film is called "Carrie: Des Satans Jüngste Tochter", i.e. "Carrie: Satan's Youngest Daughter". That annoys me. The whole point of the film is that Carrie isn't a bad girl, she just has certain special abilities. Sometimes I get the impression that companies don't bother to watch a film before they release it in a different country.

Sissy Spacek had been making a few films since 1972, but "Carrie" was her breakthrough role. She's still making films today, and she's had several Academy Award nominations as Best Actress, but nobody doubts that Carrie White is the outstanding role of her career. It was the role she was born to play. She had a manic facial expression that has to be natural. It's not a face that anyone can play. The only other actress who could have come close was Shelley Duvall.

The film was also raised to the level of a masterpiece by the casting of Piper Laurie as Carrie's mother, Margaret White. She realistically portrays a woman who puts her religious convictions above her love for her family. That's always a recipe for disaster.

Margaret has a warped idea of Christianity. She encourages her daughter to pray in front of this statue of Jesus. I could understand a statue of Jesus on the cross, because that's a common Christian symbol, but why a statue of Jesus being shot with arrows? If it really is Jesus. I've read that Saint Sebastian was tied to a tree and shot with arrows. Maybe it's supposed to be him, but I'm not aware that Saint Sebastian was ever a significant saint for the Catholic Church.

The significance in the film is that Margaret is killed in a similar pose, pierced by knives instead of arrows.

Carrie goes to the prom. If I'd been an American, I would gladly have invited a girl with a beautiful smile like that. I wouldn't care whether or not we became prom king and queen. I would have felt like a king dancing with her body pressed against mine.

The happy smile turns into screams of horror. It's not Carrie's fault. She's not a daughter of Satan. If the other girls in her school hadn't bullied her, she would never have reacted so violently.

This is the first film in my high school mini-marathon. Wait till tomorrow to see what my second film will be.

Success Rate:  + 16.8

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