18/11/2024 - Viktor Tauš delivers a visually bold and theatre-infused, kaleidoscopic coming-of-age fantasy drama

Czech director and producer Viktor Tauš brings to fruition his over two decades-long passion project with Girl America [+see also:
interview: Viktor Tauš
film profile], screening as an international premiere in the Official Competition of the 28th Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival. The film tells the true story of a woman, called Emma Černá in the film, abandoned by her mother in 1980s Czechoslovakia and raised in institutional care. Previously adapted as a book and a site-specific theatre play, this tale follows the protagonist’s journey of survival and self-determination as she navigates a life shaped by trauma and systemic neglect. Tauš tackles the personal story with a visually extravagant and highly stylised treatment.  While David Jařab, who wrote the eponymous book on which the film is based, is credited as a screenwriter, the director applied artistic license through his idiosyncratic style and completely avoided the tropes and aesthetics of the social drama and the biopic.

Theatrical formalism permeates the film’s bold visual language, which blends surreal elements with a kinetic energy that mirrors the protagonist’s turbulent life. The film’s tripartite structure unfolds across three phases of Emma’s life, with a different actress portraying her at each stage in a non-linear chronology, jumping through different periods of the protagonist's life.

As a child, Emma is played by newcomer Klára Kitto, who delivers a surprisingly strong performance, growing from a traumatised, abandoned girl into a fiery, hardened survivor in a children's home. Kitto's portrayal is accentuated by Martin Douba’s dynamic handheld camerawork, which captures her growing defiance and bursting energy. In adolescence, Emma is interpreted by Julie Šoucová, who embodies the character’s resilience as she navigates life in juvenile detention. Initially ostracised and bullied, she fights back and forges friendships, gaining a temporary sense of belonging. Emma's adult years are depicted by Pavla Beretová, whose restrained performance captures a stoic and more resigned version of the protagonist. Now a mother, Emma reflects on a past marked by disappointment, including her estranged foster family, the siblings she was separated from due to institutionalisation, and her time as a sex worker after ending up on the street.

The title references Emma's fixation on an imagined America, a fantasy rooted in her belief that her absent father lives there. The dream becomes her psychological anchor, embodying an idealised escape from her harsh reality. The "American dream" is an illusion that serves as a source of hope, propelling Emma through her life's upheavals.

The visual and production design by Jan Kadlec draws heavily from theatre aesthetics, employing curated settings that resemble carefully-designed and slightly surreal stage compositions. The film uses bold pastel colours, with different hues associated to different life phases, as well as a split-screen technique. The director reframes the true story through the lens of magical realism, crafting a heightened visual experience centred on a protagonist who resists getting broken by systemic challenges and life's circumstances, while living between aspiration and disillusionment. Rather than focusing on a straightforward retelling, Tauš prioritises an immersive, mythical and poetic spectacle infused with an implicit social critique, making Girl America a most visually distinct modern Czech film.

Girl America was produced by Heaven's Gate and co-produced by Václav Dejčmar, Barrandov Studios, TV Nova, Czech Television, BFILM, K Film Swiss, PFX, Flamesite, and Lonely Production. Coccinelle Film Sales handles the film's international rights.