SLFS Review – LITTLE DRUMMER GIRL

LITTLE DRUMMER GIRL screens Monday, July 17 at 7:00pm at the Tivoli Theater (6350 Delmar Blvd, St. Louis) as part the Narrative Shorts 3 Program that is part of this year’s St. Louis Filmmaker’s Showcase. Ticket information can be found HERE

Review by Stephen Tronicek

Sometimes a film just needs to leave an impression. An image, a sound, an emotion, anything, and LITTLE DRUMMER GIRL while certainly seeming a bit less than the sum of its parts, leaves you with quite an impression. The opening moments are beautiful, drawing in the eye with an ease that is almost unseen in films of this tier. It looks professional and it works to wrench you into the sublime chaos of a Civil War battle.

As the film continues, it sets up another wrenching situation. The question as to what a man of such nationalistic pride must do to participate in the war but not leave his daughter alone. The film’s best trick is to build up a nasty, wrongheaded mentality for its characters before revealing their slight nobility. The drama comes from the reality that there is no right way to reply the situation at the feet of the characters, there is only a dangerous option and a terrible option. The moral conundrum at the center here is as elicit as they come, leading the audience through a roller coaster of exploitative fear, relief, and sublime terror.

LITTLE DRUMMER GIRL, as mentioned before, also just looks great. The color grading gives the film a bit too much of a teal and orange look, but it looks professional and helps draw the audience into the world. There is an obvious care put into the filmmaking here and that along with the emotionally wrenching script makes LITTLE DRUMMER GIRL a treat.

For a list of all of the films screening at this year’s St. Louis Filmmaker’s Showcase, go HERE