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The "St. Trinian’s" girls get a modern makeoverIf I told you that the new British boarding-school comedy St. Trinian’s, released in the U.K. on Dec. 21, has aspects of the Kristy McNichol film Little Darlings crossed with Tina Fey’s comedy Mean Girls, you might think that you ought to be excited about seeing it. Unfortunately, it’s nowhere near as good as either of those movies. But it does begin with a similar premise: the female of the species — and particularly the teenage female — is much, much more deadly than the male.
Although I don’t think they’re really known of in the U.S., the fierce and fictional schoolgirls of St. Trinian’s have been iconic in the U.K. for over half a century. They first sprang from the brain of the cartoonist Ronald Searle, who in 1941 was a soldier stationed in Scotland near a friendly family whose daughters attended a school named St. Trinnean’s. Encouraged by the success of his early cartoons within the family, Searle sent them off to a magazine. By 1947, the series was a national hit, being published in book form as Hurrah for St. Trinian’s!
From the beginning, the joke was that the St. Trinian’s girls were the antithesis of everything young British roses were supposed to be: depraved, devious, manipulative, gin-swigging, cigar-smoking, and physically aggressive. Through sheer force, they would always get what they wanted. There was a dark side to these cartoons, as Searle had suffered from 1942 to 1945 as a prisoner in a Japanese war camp. Though the cartoons were meant to be lighthearted, it’s difficult not to think that that experience must have influenced his portrayal of the girls as bullying and torturing each other:
When the popularity of the series led to the first St. Trinian’s film, The Belles of St. Trinian’s (1954), this torture aspect was minimized. Instead, the girls were divided into two types. There were the Fourth Formers, who were tough tomboy hoodlums with freckles, huge untidy hair, and a talent for distilling their own liquor and blowing things up:
Then there were the Sixth Formers, glamourpuss pinups with perfectly waved hair, stocking tops showing beneath their skirts, and a habit of using their sexuality to get what they want. (This portrayal might have seemed more creepy if it hadn’t been for the fact that the actresses playing the Sixth Formers were usually obviously in their twenties).
How the freckly, dumpy Fourth Formers grow up into the sexpot Sixth Formers is never quite explained by the films (of which three more were made during the '50s and '60s), but the result is a slightly depressing view of female life: No matter how scruffy, deviously clever, and anarchic the girl is as a child, she is destined to grow up into an interchangeable Barbie doll, whose assets are all on the outside rather than on the inside. Despite all this, there is an undeniable appeal to the films for female viewers, in seeing girls who will always survive and come out on top. As the school’s headmistress, Millicent Fritton, puts it in Belles: “You see, in other schools girls are sent out quite unprepared into a merciless world, but when our girls leave here, it is the merciless world which has to be prepared.” The current film — which was the idea of out gay actor Rupert Everett, who also stars in it — combines aspects of the old films with some of the clichés of moden American high school comedies: the different social groups (geeks, emos, etc.), and the new girl who gets a makeover. The new girl in question is Annabelle Fritton, played by Talulah Riley, whose last film appearance was as Mary Bennet in the Keira Knightley Pride & Prejudice:
Initially posh and uptight, Annabelle has to be formed into a true St. Trinian’s student by the other girls, including Head Girl Kelly (played by Gemma Arterton):
Among the school staff are former Bond girl Caterina Murino and Jekyll actress Fenella Woolgar, who plays a distinctly lesbianish, deep-voiced, khaki-wearing P.E. teacher. (Ronald Searle is recorded as saying of St. Trinian’s that “the staff, behind an extremely old-fashioned facade, conceal equivalent excesses [to the students] and plenty of lesbianism.”) AfterEllen.com favorites in the cast include Lena Headey as a frumpy, hopeful English teacher, as well as Mischa Barton as former Head Girl JJ French:
Despite the strong female presence, the film is honestly too feebly scripted for me to really recommend shelling out money for it if it comes to cinemas in the U.S. But you can check out a trailer here: And the British girl group Girls Aloud sings the theme song: Submitted by on January 9, 2008 - 12:31pm. |
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i actually read about this a couple weeks ago, i accidentally came across it cause some girl on one of my groups had it as her myspace backgroud, it looked interesting so i googled it.
even if it does end up being horrible, for now there's enough cast members i like to entice me to go see it. and really who doesn't want to see teen girls blow stuff up? i'm glad tallulah riley gets a bigger role this time
I agree
Someone beat us to it
St Trinian's
I have to say I did shell out £6.50 to see this at the cinema, and I found it really rather enjoyable. It's not deep or meaningful but it's fun, and the actresses (especially the head girl) are really quite tasty. If you don't mind a bit of frivolity and are not looking for thought provoking intellectual themes then I would recommend this film - even if you don't enjoy the plot there's £6.50's worth of visual pleasure in it!
Plus you get to learn the capital city of Burkina Faso - and that's always got to be useful knowledge.
it's great
I thought St. Trinians was ace. The head girl was really fit, the little kids who were like Spy Kids were dead cute, pretty much all of them were really funny and the actual story was entertaining. Granted, i've never seen any of the other St. Trinians films, but i loved it.
It had Russel Brand in it as well...who's always good for a laugh. Oh, and Stephen Fry which made me smile.
Damn they don't make 'em like this anymore...
I went to see this for the
I went to see this for the girls in uniforms, I'm not going to lie, and also it looked like a bit of fun. It was baaad!! But bad in the sense of being a bit of trashy enjoyment. It was not what I expected (which as you said was a bit Mean Girl-esque) in fact, it was a big disappointment in that sense. But I did enjoy it nevertheless. The girls were all hawt, I am particularly partial to Tamsin Egerton who played the head of the 'Posh Totty' group. And all the Colin Firth references were amusing! So all in all, don't go expecting the higher quality teen flick that it has the potential to have been, but go for the eye candy and a bit of bad, trashy entertainment!!
Oh my!
The trailer definitely got my attention... I'd like to see it!
_ _ _ _ _
"Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter, and those who matter don't mind." (Dr. Seuss)
I agree
i've seen it
Gemma Arterton's been cast
Gemma Arterton's been cast as the new Bond girl.
I really liked this one. I'm a big fan of the originals, so I was worried about the transition, but I think they pulled it off admirably.
I Saw It Last Week
I really liked this film but i tend to like films that get bad reviews and disliked the films that have good reviews.
I haven't seen any of the other versions, and ditto with the hotness of the cast comments.
St. Trinian's
Man, I loved this film.
I mean, I hear you that it could have been scripted better -- it's never going to get an Oscar, and it is a bit slow to get going -- but Gemma Arterton and Tallulah Riley are fit as (and 21 and 22 respectively, so drool away), the adult cast is genuinely stupendous (Colin Firth, Russell Brand, Stephen Fry, Lena Headey, Rupert Everett to name but a few), and the whole thing is just campy mindless awesome fun. The trailer does not do it justice at all. I'm so buying it as soon as it comes out on dvd to have in as an instant source of joy.
Silly fun!
This film was pretty much slated by the critics, but I enjoyed it as a bit of silly fun. I used to watch the old black and white films during school holidays. I think the anarchy of it was what I loved.
Actually, this is quite true to the spirit of those old films, and if you don't go expecting anything near as witty and sharp as Mean Girls (ah, Tina Fey...!) it is ok for a bit of a giggle. Shame Lena Heady doesn't get enough to do though. She's in the Joyce Grenfell role, but could have done with a bit more involvement.
Ignore the reviews
Loved it!
St. Trinians
St. Trinian's
i read somewhere it will indeed come to the us we just have to wait abit longer. i heart heart Thelma. god without her, Hex wouldn't have been as good
Not so good
I watched it two days ago while vacationing in London (great city btw!!!). I had no idea what to expect, i just went because the poster mentionned Lena Headey as one of the main actors. So i was rather dissapointed to find out she was like a total of 5 minutes in the movie.
The movie itself was weird and all over the place. Definitely a few things I didn't get. (Annabelle make-over out of nowhere?)
Also, Rupert Everett kind of freaked me out in his doublerole. It was very over the top, but not in a good way (but then again that's just my opinion).
Colin Firth, Toby Jones (amazing in Infamous), Anna Chancellor (Four weddings and a funeral, Tipping the Velvet), Celia Imri (Imagine me and You): what a waste of talent! I kept wondering the whole movie what they were all doing there..
To sum up: I didn't really like it.
Flippin' Brilliant
It's cool
I saw girls talking about it on the board!
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