FREE ON CINEGEEK.DE Wish You Were Here 

Her mother is dead, her father is a drunk, but deep down inside she has a feeling that is sincere and full of freedom! But we are in 1951, somewhere in a small English town, surrounded by a neighborhood called "working class". A girl like Lynda is expected to know her place there. But Lynda does not correspond to this picture at all. In the cinema, the boys hang on Betty_Grable's thighs when she crosses her legs. Lynda tries the same thing on the beach. What is there to lose? Wish You Were Here is a Coming Of Age story and Lynda is perceived as a "Bad Girl". Nobody in town understands that she's a wonderful person who just wants to live differently. Except for a little elderly lady who plays the piano in a tea room. A comedy with angry undertones! It shows how a free girl can be broken by the same mix of sexism and conventions. Should we laugh or cry - the film itself doesn't know the answer and slowly develops into a tragedy. David Leland wrote and directed Wish You Were Here based on the memories of Cynthia Payne. In Cynthia's childhood, sex was something you didn't talk about. Her attitude, on the other hand, had to be understood as immoral: But if all men want sex and she has a lot to give, what's the problem? The answer: There is not only one problem! What happens to a girl who is as innocent as Lynda in the film? She becomes the victim of her boss or a self-proclaimed Don-Juan. How much is the human worth? Under these circumstances, Lynda finds it hard to keep smiling, pretending to. Maybe she considers herself worthless? Or do they still exist; the real romantics? It seemed to me as if the film had an idea of it towards the end and spread a little optimism. The key to the film is the 16 year old Emily Lloyd as Lynda. She radiates so much joie de vivre and seems so wild that her personality alone is enough to bring us closer to this difficult role. Her future as an actress back in the UK: Rosy! Quite different from Lynda's.