Speak (film)
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''Speak'' is a 2004 American
independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...
coming-of-age Coming of age is a young person's transition from being a child to being an adult. The specific age at which this transition takes place varies between societies, as does the nature of the change. It can be a simple legal convention or can ...
teen Adolescence () is a transitional stage of physical and psychological development that generally occurs during the period from puberty to adulthood (typically corresponding to the age of majority). Adolescence is usually associated with the te ...
drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has been ...
film based on the award-winning 1999 novel of the same name by
Laurie Halse Anderson Laurie Halse Anderson is an American writer, known for children's and young adult novels. She received the Margaret A. Edwards Award from the American Library Association in 2010 for her contribution to young adult literature. She was first re ...
. It stars
Kristen Stewart Kristen Jaymes Stewart (born April 9, 1990) is an American actress. The world's highest-paid actress in 2012, she has received various accolades, including a British Academy Film Award and a César Award, in addition to nominations for an Acad ...
as
Melinda Sordino Melinda "Mel" Sordino (born February 18) is the main character and narrator of Laurie Halse Anderson's 1999 novel '' Speak''. Her last name, Sordino, is an Italian word that can be translated as "deaf." The character's ordeals were based on Ande ...
, a high school freshman who practically stops talking after a senior student rapes her. The film’s story is told through Melinda's perspective. It was broadcast on
Showtime Showtime or Show Time may refer to: Film * ''Showtime'' (film), a 2002 American action/comedy film * ''Showtime'' (video), a 1995 live concert video by Blur Television Networks and channels * Showtime Networks, a division of Paramount Global w ...
and Lifetime in 2005 after premiering at the
Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival (formerly Utah/US Film Festival, then US Film and Video Festival) is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with more than 46,66 ...
in 2004.


Plot

Fourteen-year-old
Melinda Sordino Melinda "Mel" Sordino (born February 18) is the main character and narrator of Laurie Halse Anderson's 1999 novel '' Speak''. Her last name, Sordino, is an Italian word that can be translated as "deaf." The character's ordeals were based on Ande ...
begins her first year in high school and struggles on the first day. She doesn't have any friends to hang out with, and appears awkward and uncomfortable when speaking to others. Throughout the day, she is made fun of by several students, repeatedly called a " squealer". A series of flashbacks reveal that she called the police to a house party during the previous summer. Her reason for calling
9-1-1 , usually written 911, is an emergency telephone number for the United States, Canada, Mexico, Panama, Palau, Argentina, Philippines, Jordan, as well as the North American Numbering Plan (NANP), one of eight N11 codes. Like other emergency nu ...
was to tell the police that she had been raped by a senior student at the party, Andy Evans, but her trauma prevented her from reporting the rape over the telephone or to the police when they arrived. When her parents see her report card, they prompt Melinda to see a teacher named Mr. Neck, who tells her to write an essay on any history topic. After refusing to read her paper aloud to her class, she is sent to the principal's office. Melinda is nice to a new student named Heather Billings, who claims to be Melinda's "friend", but Heather soon abandons Melinda when the chance for social advancement arises. The only other student with whom Melinda has a positive experience is her lab partner, Dave Petrakis, who has successfully managed to avoid affiliating himself with a clique. The restoration of Melinda's confidence progresses at a painfully slow rate, with some help from Dave and her art teacher, Mr. Freeman. Her former best friend, Rachel Bruin, starts dating Andy, and Melinda fears that Rachel will suffer the same fate as she did. Melinda meets Rachel at the library and tells her the truth about what happened at the party by writing it on paper. Rachel first refuses to believe, thinking that Melinda is lying out of jealousy and calls her "sick", but comes to realize the truth by confronting Andy who had spoken Melinda's name earlier (despite claiming to have never met any of Rachel's friends before). Rachel then avoids Andy out of anger for his lies and for fear of getting raped by him, telling other people of what happened at the party all the while. Exposed as a rapist and a liar, Andy retaliates against Melinda, cornering her; he tries to force her to tell everybody at school that the incident is false and attempts to rape her again. Melinda struggles and throws a bottle of
turpentine Turpentine (which is also called spirit of turpentine, oil of turpentine, terebenthene, terebinthine and (colloquially) turps) is a fluid obtained by the distillation of resin harvested from living trees, mainly pines. Mainly used as a special ...
at his face, blinding him, and overpowers him after holding a shard of glass from a broken mirror to his neck, threatening to kill him. They are found by Melinda's distanced friend Nicole who, along with other girls from her field hockey team, help Melinda trap a now-helpless Andy to prevent further attack. The altercation removes any doubt about what happened at the house party, and the girls who restrain him are outraged by it and tempted to beat him with their sticks out of spite. Mr. Neck sees Melinda walking away from the scene and asks what was going on, but Melinda doesn't respond. On the way back from the hospital after being treated for her injuries, Melinda rolls down the car window and breathes in deeply. She finally finds the strength to tell her mother, who already suspects something awful, the truth about what happened at the party.


Cast


Production

Producer and screenwriter Annie Young Frisbie read the novel and successfully made a bid to get the rights to a film version. Production took place in
Columbus, Ohio Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, and t ...
because a production partner, Matthew Myers, was relocating there with his wife. Film production took 21 days in August 2003, on a budget of $1 million dollars. Flooding during an especially heavy summer rain caused filming to be temporarily postponed and during that time author Laurie Halse Anderson visited the set with her daughter. Anderson cameos in the film as the lunch lady who gives Melinda the mashed potatoes. The school scenes for the movie were shot at
Eastmoor Academy Eastmoor Academy is a public high school located on the east side of Columbus, Ohio. It is part of Columbus City Schools. Eastmoor Academy was formerly known as Eastmoor High School. The school's colors are red, white and blue, and its mascot ...
on the east side of Columbus.


Release

The film premiered at the
2004 Sundance Film Festival The 2004 Sundance Film Festival was held in Utah from January 15, 2004 to January 25, 2004. It was the 20th edition of the Sundance Film Festival, a program of the Sundance Institute. Non-competition features Midnight * ''Azumi'' * '' Freshman O ...
and played the film festival circuit, including the
Woodstock Film Festival The Woodstock Film Festival is an American film festival that was launched in 2000 by filmmakers Meira Blaustein and Laurent Rejto with the goal to bring high quality independent film to the Hudson Valley region. The festival takes place each fa ...
. It later aired simultaneously on the cable networks
Showtime Showtime or Show Time may refer to: Film * ''Showtime'' (film), a 2002 American action/comedy film * ''Showtime'' (video), a 1995 live concert video by Blur Television Networks and channels * Showtime Networks, a division of Paramount Global w ...
and Lifetime on September 5, 2005.


Reception

On
Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
, the film has an 80% "fresh" score based on 5 reviews. Marilyn Moss of ''
The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...
'' gave an overwhelmingly positive write-up, describing the film as, "well-made and extremely touching." She praised Stewart's performance, saying she gave an "understated performance that will touch everyone who sees
he film He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' ...
" Moss also praised the score and editing, saying it "merges tewart'scharacter's interior and exterior worlds beautifully." On his YouTube channel, critic
Chris Stuckmann Christopher Michael Stuckmann (born April 15, 1988) is an American filmmaker, YouTuber, author, and film critic. As one of the most popular film critics on YouTube, Stuckmann has over 2 million subscribers and over 706 million views on the plat ...
gave the film a retrospective positive review, praising Stewart and Zahn's performances, the cinematography, and direction. Stuckmann also said the film feels "at home" for him, because of the filming that took place in Ohio (Stuckmann's home state). Barbara Shulgasser-Parker of ''
Common Sense Media Common Sense Media (CSM) is an organization that reviews and provides ratings for media and technology with the goal of providing information on their suitability for children.
'' gave the film a rating of four out of five stars, and called it, "a startlingly good film on what has become a familiar subject in both fiction and life." She praised Stewart's performance and the direction. Although
Neil Genzlinger Neil Genzlinger is an American playwright, editor, book reviewer, and theatre and television critic who frequently writes for ''The New York Times''. Family Genzlinger is a grandson of the late ''The Philadelphia Bulletin'' columnist Don Rose. ...
of ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' opined the film "comes nowhere near capturing the wise, subtle tone of the book it's based on", " tis still an effective treatment of a difficult subject, thanks almost entirely to the performance of Kristen Stewart as the young victim."
Christopher Null Christopher Null is an American writer, film critic, and columnist. A former blogger for Yahoo! Tech, he was the editor of Drinkhacker.com, and the founder and editor-in-chief of Filmcritic.com, which operated from 1995 to 2012. In 2003, CNN cal ...
of ''
ContactMusic.com Contactmusic.com is an online magazine of cultural criticism based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It publishes reviews, interviews, and detailed essays on most cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, films, and ...
'' gave the film a rating of three out of five stars, saying it "is decent, even pretty good at times, but ultimately this material feels so familiar that we see every turn in the story telegraphed from miles away." Dennis Harvey of ''
Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
'' called the production values "OK," but said, "Eventual coming-to-terms (plus the culprit’s public humiliation) would’ve been much more potent with less caricatured adult characters and more nuanced direction."


Accolades

In 2006, the film was nominated for a
Writers Guild Award The Writers Guild of America Awards is an award for film, television, and radio writing including both fiction and non-fiction categories given by the Writers Guild of America, East and Writers Guild of America West since 1949. Eligibility The ...
. Jessica Sharzer was also nominated for a Directors Guild Award in the category of Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Children’s Programs.


References


Bibliography

*


External links

* *{{rotten-tomatoes, speak 2004 television films 2004 films 2004 independent films 2000s teen drama films 2000s high school films American teen drama films 2004 directorial debut films Films based on American novels Films about rape Lifetime (TV network) films Films set in Columbus, Ohio Films shot in Ohio American coming-of-age drama films American high school films Films about post-traumatic stress disorder Films about bullying Films about violence against women 2004 drama films 2000s coming-of-age drama films 2000s English-language films 2000s American films