The Tracey Fragments Movie
Storyline
TAGLINES
Something's missing...
Tracey Berkowitz, 15, a self-described normal girl, loses her 9-year old brother, Sonny. In flashbacks and fragments, we meet her overbearing parents and the sweet, clueless Sonny. We watch Tracey navigate high school, friendless, picked on and teased. She develops a thing for Billy Zero, a new student, imagining he's her boyfriend. We see the day she loses Sonny and we watch her try to find him. In bits and pieces, we see what leads up to her riding in the back of a city bus wrapped in a shower curtain. Coming of age, or just surviving?
| Ellen Page | Tracey Berkowitz |
| Libby Adams | Young Tracey Berkowitz |
| Shawn Ahmed | Satanic Cashier |
| Stephen Amell | Police Officer |
| Ari Cohen | Mr. Berkowitz |
| Ryan Cooley | David |
| Daniel Fathers | Elegant Man |
| Maxwell McCabe-Lokos | Lance |
| Julian Richings | Dr. Heker |
| Todd Sandomirsky | Glaring Man |
| Derek Scott | Headstand Johnny |
| Zie Souwand | Sonny - Tracey's brother |
| Slim Twig | Billy Zero |
| Norman Yeung | Tiger Daley |
| Jackie Brown | Mrs. Dorchester |
| Bruce McDonald |
6.50 out of 10 (956 votes)
Visitor Reviews
Putting Together The Tracy Fragments
posted on 13 Aug 2009Have you ever had one of those days where everything feels disconnected? The days when people are talking to you and you are so removed that you can't even hear what they're saying? A day that, when you look back, you can't remember when it started and when it ended? Imagine that day as a movie and it's The Tracy Fragments. The Tracy Fragments is a movie unlike any other I have ever seen. Ellen Page (Juno) delivers another superb performance as Tracy Berkowitz, the introverted, outcast, whose world is distraught by the disappearance of her younger brother, Sonny. Page shows hints of greatness in her performance that would later shine through in her Oscar-nominated role in Juno. But, the single most significant part of The Tracy Fragments is the experience of seeing the movie. Many film fans were amazed by Quentin Tarantino's masterpiece Pulp Fiction, and its break through non-linear story. The Tracy Fragments adds another dimension by not only telling the story non-linearly, but the entire film uses multi-frame compositions. Often times during the movie there are ten to twenty different images filling up the screen giving the viewers visual sensory overload. In this movie it works. It would have been amazing to watch this movie come together in the editing rooms and minds of director, Bruce McDonald, and writer, Maureen Medved. For fans that enjoyed movies such as Requiem for a Dream and Trainspotting should try The Tracy Fragments. However, the majority of movie-goers will probably be overwhelmed by the disorderly way in which this story is told.For an added bonus fans of this movie should check out the DVD, it includes extras including, "Tracy Re-Fragmented." This extra allowed for fans to put the movie together in any way they saw fit. The submissions ranged from music video's to a linear telling of the story.
A movie for teenagers but will teenagers buy it?
posted on 09 May 2009I saw The Tracey Fragments at the IFF Boston tonight. I'm a little surprised that it is still on the festival circuit. It seems to have a US distributor but I don't know if it's headed for a theatrical release or is just going to DVD.The movie is about a teenager and seems pitched at a teenage audience. If it succeeds it will be with that audience. The question is, will kids buy it as a serious movie or will they see it as just another bit of slick MTV fare thrown their way? I have a teenager myself and her idea of a serious movie about kids is American History X or Boys Don't Cry or - Kids.If there is an issue, it is what my daughter would call the authenticity of the story. The movie makes it clear from the very beginning that it's going to go in a dark direction, and it does. But it does so in a rather mechanical way, and, as sympathetic as the protagonist is, I was never able to put it totally out of my mind that I was just watching a piece of fiction in which what happens to her, however bad it's going to be, is entirely controlled by the writer.An interesting question is how far my (and maybe others') inability to take the story seriously arises out of the form of the movie. As already seems to be widely known, the film presents its story in a sustained split screen (or more accurately multi-panel) format. I liked it a lot at first and never really got tired of it, though I adjusted to it and after a while only noticed it when something really striking happened. There is also a lot of time dislocation, but I just took that in stride as part and parcel of modern film-making. (Unlike some other reviewers I never found the movie confusing.) The problem is that while these things make for a stronger viewing experience, they do not necessarily strengthen the story itself, and may even undermine it with their cleverness.All that said, I think the movie is worth watching. Ellen Page is very good, even if she's maybe a tad too attractive and a tad too articulate for the role. The supporting actors are pretty good too, and Julian Richings is especially enjoyable as the shrink.6 stars plus one for effort.
OK, but you're overreacting
posted on 07 Apr 2009Does anybody else think Tracey did NOT have such a tough life that she needed to be so tragic about it? I mean her family DID care, only couldn't exactly understand because she couldn't explain and the loss of her brother was HER fault whether she liked it or not. This movie was pretty good, the idea of the fragments was quite original and not tedious at all, but the subject was...misleading. Tracey was acting overly emo in my opinion. Indeed, school bullying is hard, but that seemed to me the only real hardship. After all, she hadn't been kicked out of school or home, she wasn't an orphan, she wasn't handicapped, she wasn't made to live on the streets and sell her body and pot. I admit, it seemed at times there was no hope, because she wanted it that way, because she thought the people she could turn to would not understand. But this isn't real life drama. She's not the only teenager and human being who is not understood. At times, she didn't even give the people around a chance, she was too disappointed and kept her illusions of her own utopia to herself. Again, she's not the only person going through this and others have to face harder evils, worse situations. Another thing is that she was the one who encouraged and nurtured her growing obsession in her head. She created her own mental problems which did not seem so serious to me. She seemed histrionic and depressed, but other than that... That guy Zero, who supposedly was her Prince Charming turned out to be a jerk and yet, it wasn't his fault entirely that he used her. Let's recall she got into a stranger's car voluntarily, since she obviously had a crush on him. This shows some irresponsibility. This led to losing her brother, again her own fault. What probably haunted her was a terrible guilt, but instead of running she should have faced the facts.I guess in the end she does that since she is seen walking firmly with the shower curtain, but we don't know where she's going. The fragments of Tracey were not something special. She was trying to be special, but she wasn't. The second part of the movie was better, what with the explanation of how she got the shower curtain on. Yet I felt it was just a chain of events and that it's really trying to be way too dramatic. Why isn't she special? Well, she fell for a guy, her crush and agreed to him using her, she went through all that crisis of "no one understands", she wore the haircut of all rebellious emo girls, she remained silent and acted all crazy with her family, she walked the streets of her town like any depressed broken hearted woman. The only thing different was her talking in a bus alone with the shower curtain and even that is a bit cliché. However, I'll be fair, the movie has some pretty good parts, too bad they are a few.
Exhausting but good
posted on 12 Mar 2009I just saw the world premiere of this film at the Berlin Film Festival and I was quite surprised. When I got the tickets I had no idea what it was actually about. When I was told it was about a 15-year old girl dealing with puberty I wasn't very happy about it. But then what I saw surprised me. During the first 2 minutes I prepared myself for two hours of overdone artistic cinema. But after some time, I got into it and even got attached to the girl who everybody just calls "Its". However, according to the director, this film may have been shot in only 14 days but, it took them about nine months to edit it. No wonder, since the director Bruce McDonald took the "Fragment"-part of the title by word. The film consists of hundreds of fragments of pictures, each showing different perspectives of the same moment mixing up reality and thoughts and fantasies of Tracy, the 15-year old protagonist. There are only rare scenes in which there are less then 3 fragments to be seen on screen. And the more emotional the protagonist gets, the more fragments appear. So, thus confusing you with just too much information it leaves you overwhelmed with impressions and emotions that are just too plenteous to handle. Off course, McDonald did this on purpose. It's all just a try to visualize what a teen must have to go through in puberty. After a while you get sucked into a world of bullies, disturbed parents, unanswered love, doubts and fantasies, sympathizing more and more with Tracy. Even though it was exhausting to pay attention all the time, I'd say the film is worth seeing (if you have the stamina). I have seen a lot of movies but this one was actually something new. Well, it may be exhausting but when you think of it, wasn't puberty too?!
Ellen Page redeems the movie
posted on 10 Feb 2009The story of this movie is simple, an outcast girl is looking for her brother whose run away. The big complaint other people I know have of this movie that I know have seen it is all the split screen stuff. It most certainly got on my nerves when it gets out of hand. There are some scenes where I felt that it was beneficial to the story and feel of the film, but other time it felt like filler for an already short movie.But now for my summary of Ellen Page. she is awesome in this movie. If it was any other actress, I would have rated this movie a 2 or 3. She does an great job playing somebody who is emotionally unstable. There are scenes that felt so real to me because he acting was so good, but the split screen effects got in the way.Overall, it was a good way to spend some time if you want something different or just something to appreciate the brilliant Ellen Page.
Investors were skunked
posted on 17 Jan 2009I mistook the first four minutes of this movie for the gag reel.What? There was no gag reel? Then the taxpayers of Canada need to get a refund for this literally scatterbrained waste of film stock or digital memory, whatever applies.As the old saying goes, when you aim at nothing, you'll hit nothing. In this case, if you want people to think you have nothing important to say, then just throw all your ideas at the wall and let people think you're saying whatever sticks.Perhaps a cogent narrative could have been carved from the ideas and passions that inspired this effort. The writer and director should have encouraged one another to apply skill and discipline to the project and make something that would be moving and meaningful to a wide audience.But to toss a bunch of images together to end up with little more than a migraine-inducing hodgepodge is to limit the audience to young teenagers whose brains are already fried on video games and drugs. Come to think of it, maybe turning this final cut into a video game isn't such a bad idea. All you need to do is make the picture boxes into targets. The player shoots and tries to hit as many antagonists as possible to score points. Penalties are deducted if you hit a sympathetic character. What? There are no sympathetic characters? In that case, a Golden Turkey Award seems like the only salvation for this mess. And then let's somehow amend Canadian law to allow unsuspecting viewers the right to sue to recover rental fees when they've been robbed by inept filmmakers.
I believe everyone has all ready said this...
posted on 26 Dec 2008... so I will say it some more. The Tracey Fragments is well acted in that there is very little acting and a lot of re-acting. Ellen Page is her remarkable self... I am so hopeful about her continuing career. Fragment is however everything everyone has said about it. It is hard to follow, but it can be followed, it is a simple story but it holds the attention, it is art, it is pretty, it is crap and it poorly done but I watched it from start to finish... knowing where it was going the whole time... why... well because it is chocked full of humans and human interactions. Beautiful humans and harsh humans. People exchanging hardships and moments of simple pleasure. I can... and often do go on and on... So I would recommend this Film to my friends who like to watch movies for more than a story.
TimeCoders
posted on 30 Nov 2008Is there a better center for exploring simultaneous hallucinations than a "late blooming," possibly bipolar 15 year old girl, with creepy parents?It becomes easy to run into a point of view that has confusing, shifting vision. The trick is to show enough of a world that makes sense that we can see what doesn't. You need the horizon to know when you tilt. This is hard because you have to fold the two views into one eye, seeing the girl and seeing as the girl. Some of this has to make sense spatiotemporally and some has to goof with that same sense using it against itself.Along comes the device of multiple images on a screen. This dramatically increases the difficulty of shaping the cinematic effects, offering us challenging new dimensions.I liked this. I think it worked. Because it works and is new — and I mean pretty much wholly new discounting Greenaway. "Time Code" and "Hotel" played with these sorts of notions experimentally. This is placed between them, and with serious intentions to hurt. Hurt it does, and that's the first milestone for something that could matter. Ellen Page is more here of what she gained fame for in "Juno." She's fantastic. It makes Hilary Swank in "Boys Don't Cry" seem pretty tame.Ted's Evaluation -- 3 of 3: Worth watching.
well done.
posted on 06 Nov 2008overall, i found the movie quite entertaining and emotional. while a bit confusing at times, i feel that it added to the overall effect of the movie. the closing scene with Tracey (ellen page) walking through the park was much more powerful because there was only the single shot and the screen was no longer fragmented. i feel the fragmentation throughout created the feeling of confusion and panic common to adolescence. by far my favorite part of the movie was broken social scene's original score. it blended seamlessly throughout the movie and effectively directed the audience emotionally and visually.i would recommend this movie to anyone. it is worth the confusing, scattered scenes and story line. it really takes you on a journey with the main character.
Review: The Tracey Fragments
posted on 19 Oct 2008Like Mike Figgis's Timecode which presenting the film four frames simultaneously on screen, sometime you just need to admire a person who did it; regardless what is said and done in the story. For their determination for inventing and experimenting something that count as a film, even you knew that you're not having a good time. The Tracey Fragments is the movie that will embraced by people who really into a film-making process, if not just for any regular moviegoers.In Christopher Nolan's Memento, the film plays with time. It was edited and rearranged backward as if an audience suffered from amnesia like the protagonist. The Tracey Fragments was also heavily edited to represent subconscious of adolescence mind. What's in Tracey's mind is fragmented; reality and fantasy are overlapping with each other simultaneously in each tiny frame presented on screen. It's maybe difficult to catch up from time to time, but it's worthwhile if you're getting the hang of it.And just like Memento, if you watch it in a perfect sequence narrative, it will be just another straightforward drama that has nothing much to add on. And to make it worse, The Tracey Fragments is suffered from serious lack of decent dialogs. What we've heard are only whining or bitching about society from hormone-inducing teenage girl. And it's even more embarrassing when secondary characters like parents or strangers open their mouth.But it maybe filmmaker's intention after all, maybe he want to show us how uncomplicated and simple adolescence are. They may speak what's in the heart without processing through the mind. Their tyrantness, lust, and stupidity that end up causing someone else's life, maybe this is the film that trying to show Tracey (By the way, great vehicle for Ellen Page, she's just perfect for the part) a step to embrace her own reality and feeling guilty for the thing she have done.The running time for this film is only 70 or so minute. It took only 14 days to shoot, but it took 9 months to edit. The Tracey Fragments may not teach you anything, nor give you a good time in return. But for that kind of dedication, you just gotta give it to them.
My Review
posted on 26 Aug 2008Young Tracey Berkowitz (Ellen Page) is a distraught 15-year-old. She gets picked on in school because of her size, and she's in love with the new boy, Billy Zero (Slim Twig).She's also lost her 7-year-old brother when she was supposed to be watching him, and she goes in search for him, all the while reminiscing about her crazy life. Is it even real? This wasn't a bad movie, but it was thoroughly confusing. I wasn't sure of the point of the whole thing, and the multi-images, while different at first, became a jumbled mess and trying to pay attention to everything happening was giving me a headache. In the end, I have no clue what the point of the film was, but, as usual, Ellen Page did a fantastic job.
Very original, but not that much more
posted on 17 Jul 2008I saw this movie at the Berlin Film Festival and did not know nothing about it before. There will be people that will call this a "masterpiece" or "pure art", and there will be a lot more people that will call this "bullshit". I wouldn't argue with neither of them. If you want to enjoy this movie, you will have to buy every idea the director came up with, otherwise you will want to leave the cinema. At every moment of the movie, the picture is split up into lots of little pictures, often showing the same scene from different camera angles. This can be exhausting at times, but it can also be very exciting.You suddenly realize that you as a member of the audience are part of the film-making process. You are the one to edit to movie, to decide whether you want the see the long or the close shot. I found this a very interesting approach to the process of making a movie. But still, sometimes the film seems to be so random, trying hard to be special and smart. You might have to watch it a second time to really check if there's is a kind of inner logic to every scene. The movie has great moments and is full of original ideas, though sometimes it is only original for the purpose of being original and nothing else. Apart from the interesting picture language, I have to mention the gorgeous Ellen Page, who is - ultimately - THE most talented young actress there is today. I'm looking forward to her future projects.
A tedious exercise in experimental film
posted on 09 Jul 2008An exercise in experimental cinema. The director is too busy experimenting with nifty editing techniques and an unusual visual style rather than focusing on telling a cohesive and interesting narrative. The director's visual tricks aren't even as effective as the director probably wants them to be. At the beginning the movie the visuals are come off as genuinely unique. By the end of the visual tricks become repetitive, annoying and irritating.I'm usually fine with abstract, indirect, non-linear storytelling, but to keep my attention it has to be at least mildly interesting. Ellen Page is decent, but she isn't given enough to do.My patience was tested while watching this tedious production.
Original, Dark, and Canadian
posted on 28 May 2008There is so much I could say about The Tracey Fragments, it is almost like a really big and scary looking roller coaster, its definitely not for everyone, but those that like it, love it.I will start with what i noticed first: the "fragments", the split screen, super impositions, whatever you want to call it, the editing. Its original, but there is a reason for that, all of these constant, different visuals at the same time is exhausting, at first. 10 minutes into the movie all i wanted was a complete shot with none of those extras that you eventually get used to. 45 minutes into the movie though, i was completely engrossed in the story and totally understood the director's reason for all of that stuff. And the reason is simple: it allows the audience to get inside the head of this alone and suffering teenager.I am a teen myself and I thought that the bullying and the family life and the emotions Tracey experiences are pretty realistic, and flawlessly portrayed by Ellen Page. This is what life is like for some teens, sadly.The script was, I thought, perfect. It is dark and disturbing and mostly pretty realistic, and most importantly (or annoyingly), it is very disjointed, you watch the story unfold but you don't figure out what is real and what isn't and how it all happened and why until the end.The soundtrack is amazing, I loved it and it fits perfectly, I am not a fan of Broken Social Scene (who scored the film), but I am definitely going to be looking for the soundtrack when i get some time.This movie is Canadian, and that makes me proud. This was shot in Toronto, and it was beautiful, they seemed to find the perfect location for every shot, and the director is Canadian, and Ellen Page is Canadian, and etc.Finally, Ellen Page. I have saved this for the end because she is the best part of this movie. She is one of my favorite actors and the reason why I decided to see this movie in the first place. She is fantastic, portraying the life of this 15 year old Tracey perfectly. her performance was flawless and there was not a moment in the film where I wasn't totally believing her, or cheering on Tracey as we as the audience learn more about her. I could go on forever but simply put, she is so great, so talented.
Arty but unrewarding
posted on 14 May 2008I was looking forward to this film because of the unusual formal nature of the film: the screen is split into between two and twenty little screens at various points during the film - sometimes they are static, sometimes they float around... And while I liked the style and I think it will possibly start a trend, I can't say I actually enjoyed the content of the film. The main character, a runaway teenage girl, was obnoxious and lacking in any redeeming features. She swore in the most puerile way, and sometimes spoke to the screen in a stagy declamatory manner which wasn't suitable (for this film that is). The dialogue in general was bad and her parents couldn't act at all. As for a story - well there wasn't too much of interest going on, so I left the theatre feeling I'd seen a reasonable piece of art form-wise, but that I hadn't been moved at all.
Teen angst can be dark and consuming.
posted on 08 May 2008You will either hate this movie or like it a lot. I can't say I even remotely love it, but I do love Ellen Page. This cute Canadian actress finally got recognition in JUNO(2007). This Bruce McDonald movie proves that Ms. Page is a natural, honest, combustible and believable actress. It may take a while to get used to THE TRACEY FRAGMENTS shot not in just split screen, but if you will... fragmented screens. The story line is also fragmented and after a half hour or so, you are already involved.Page plays 15-year-old Tracey Berkowitz, who comes from a very screwed up family to say the least. Being a little under-developed in the breast area, Tracey is humiliated at school and nobody really knows the confused girl inside. She is punished at home with a three month grounding for telling off her cross-dressing "shrink"(Julian Richings). But independent Tracey runs away in search for her little brother Sonny(Zie Souward), who has strayed from home thinking he is a...dog. Damn, can this get a little more weird. There is the unnerving photographic technique to get used too. Some will complain about the extremely strong language. Although there is a walk in the park, this movie is no picnic. There is this feeling of darkness and raw bitter cold. OK, Ms. Page is the movie's redemption. Also in the cast: Maxwell McCabe-Lokos, Ari Cohen and Slim Twig.
One of the most inventive, beautiful, intense, powerful films I've ever seen
posted on 06 May 2008"The Tracey Fragments" was an incredible story of female adolescent struggle in today's age of unloving parents, over-sexualized high schoolers, and quack psychiatrists.This story was told through a very interesting and creative narrative and visual style. It's got that post-modern, out-of-order storytelling technique -- a la Quentin Tarantino or Charlie Kaufman -- that I love. And yet, with it's fragmented, multi-framed editing style, it dared to go deeper into this technique than either of those writers have ever done, allowing two different stories to occur simultaneously by juxtaposing scenes from different points in time and different settings. this style also allowed the director to use different takes of the same action simultaneously, repeat shots, show events happening from completely different angles, focus on multiple things and characters at the same time, highlight small details, allow the scene to play out at different speeds, and sometimes just completely disorient the audience. Each technique had its own unique effect, and was never, ever overused or clichéd.On top of this was an excellent performance by Ellen Page, her best so far in her career. She's been perfect in the roles I've seen her do -- "Hard Candy" and "Juno" -- but I knew she was capable of much more. "Hard Candy" was a little unbelievable and "Juno" was not much more than entertaining. But Tracey, I think, is the kind of role I've been waiting to see from her, and she did it better than I think any actress could have done. This was a full character, realistically written with a whole array of emotions, and she did an outstanding job with it.I'm really disappointed to see so many viewers who just couldn't appreciate it due to the visual technique. I think many were just bothered by the fact that there was so much to see, and they didn't know what to pay attention to. No, you couldn't pay attention to all of it at once, but that's the point. I like art that isn't spoon-fed to me, that I can come back to and notice something different every time, and this is that kind of movie. Most films make it too clear what you're supposed to pay attention to, but this one gave you the power to choose. Sometimes I appreciated the entire composition, sometimes I just focused on one little detail, but isn't that what you're supposed to do with any film? In that sense, appreciating this work of art really isn't that different than any other.I would recommend this film to anyone with an open mind and an interest in the avant-garde or experimental.
Truly a work of art in cinematography.. Love the unique multiple frames..
posted on 30 Apr 2008Did anybody like Ellen Page from Juno? Anybody said that her acting in that movie is terrific? Well, her acting in Juno is nothing compared to her's in this movie. This movie really makes Juno looks like High School Musical without any music. In my opinion she is the only girl on this planet that can pull of this psychodrama movie. As an professional actress she push her acting to the limit, and she deserves credit for her terrific job. In this movie, Ellen plays the character Tracey Berkwitz, a sixteen years old girl who on the verge of her insanity and tries to find her missing little brother.As the director, Bruce McDonald presented this film with a very unique way. He split the screen into three, four, or even dozen frames to project the state of Tracey's mind. Bruce then develops the story with three different time lines simultaneously, crossing each other. At first, audience may become confused, but in the end everyone will agree that he has done a wonderful job with the storytelling. This film also presented some realistic and rare to be seen condition of cities in Canada at night and twilight moment. The environments blend perfectly with the plot and storyline. However, this film is lacking on one real solid ending to close this great work.This film is really a work of art in filmography, the acting quality, the storytelling time line, and the multiple camera angle are very unique. However, just like every other arts, it is up to every person interpretation. Some people will say that the multi-frames doesn't really work and they doesn't understand the movie at all. But for me, The Tracey Fragments is one solid ending away to become one of the best indie film I've ever seen.
And The Horses Became As Glue
posted on 04 Apr 2008Wow. Like a manic depressive answer to "Run Lola Run". "The Tracey Fragments", is the story of 15 year old girl (Ellen Page), who is self described as "a normal teenage girl who hates herself", the movie is told mostly out of chronological order, ...(read more)but we open with images of Tracey riding a bus, wrapped in a curtain and looking out the windows in a blizzard, hating the world, and obsessed with finding her missing brother Sunny. Like the title says Tracey is fragmented, and visually this translates into everything in the film occurring on multiple screens at once. At first this smacks of art school excess but none of the juxtapositions are random, they really do highlight elements of Tracey's personality. Traumatized and delusional Tracey's life in one scene resembles the paneled grids of a comic book she reads, in another it resembles a trailer for an imagined film about her life, a music video with she and her rocker love interest (the Lou Reed looking "new boy" Billy Zero(real name Slim Twig)), in another a magazine diced up with future interviews. Aside from fantasizing Tracey mainly distorts her own trauma and problems (she is not a reliable narrator), the other kids at school both male and female are improbably hostile about Tracey's small breasts, because this is how Tracey feels rather than what her life is. Similarily Tracey's psychologist is an androgynous looking man in drag(in Tracey's mind, both Mother and Father figure, she later asks to movie in with in him). Of course, a lot of the Tracey Fragments is difficult to piece together because some vignettes seem completely delusional while others at least seem to bear the scars of realism. Constantly showing events from a multiplicity of angles of highlights Tracey's self consciousness, always observing herself as she participates doubting everything, "how can anything be true if everything is in your head", she wonders at one point. Really this movie is little like Run Lola Run, save they're both indie films, highly inventive in terms of script, editing, cinematography, and direction, and both have commanding lead actresses. The stylization is as exciting as the material is difficult, were poured straight into the mind of a unstable, angry,and terrified, teenage less sexed Kathy Acker heroin, raging with guilt. (Spoiler in next paragraph) The films clearest moment Tracey finding her brothers hat near a snow bank in a simple wide shot, slowly lines like cracks in ice slowly appear up the screen dividing the image into multiple shots of the lake, as Tracey's mind literally fragments and looks away to avoid the obvious. The Tracey Fragments, is a tense psychological study, and bleak coming of age tale, highly and effectively stylized into something greater than the sum of it's parts. It's disturbing, tragic, but also a really unique film experience, and easily one of best films of 2007
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Impact In Fragments
posted on 21 Aug 2009Arguabley one of the most original films out there... The Tracey Fragments might rely a bit too much on its originality and not enough on the substance. I guarantee that several weeks to several years after you see it, you will remember it for the way fragments of Tracey's world are shown on film... it's impact of the picture in picture style speak loud like an abstract painting... but you will forget what it's about. And for that, The Tracey Fragments ultimately fails - like a star giving it's last bursting glimmer, you never forget the that shine but you will never remember exactly where in the sky it was. Still, I can't not recommend this film - Oh no, I still say you must see it and appreciate it for what it is... A very real and fragmented portrait of a young teenage girl named Tracey who fills life's voids with a mixture of fantasy and reality to make a very rental worthy 77 minute original film thats impact will be both lost and lasting - like every awkward 15 year old nobody you see lost in their own world at the back of the city transit. 6.5/10