The story appears simple on the surface, but is revealed, especially after multiple viewings, as more multi-layered and textured than Cassavetes at his best. Ostensibly it concerns a 14-year old Catholic girl, Wynne (Agutter) growing up in this post-modern wasteland, who develops a crush on her much older adoptive brother (Marshall)- a crush which perversely deepens and grows into infatuation once she starts to believe he is the local sex killer. This is in itself an idea that makes you sit up and jolt, but as the narrative develops, it continues not necessarily along a linear path but in several confusing and fascinating directions: the family's history, (detailed effectively in chilling flashback during an improvised seance) is a chequered one, and has suffered at least one major relocation and upheaval in the last ten years. At the crux, however, it's the depiction of socialal changes that make I Start Counting so fascinating and elevate its language far beyond the confines of the standard horror film. The major subtext- that teenage girls were maturing more quickly than before, and developing full sexual and romantic appetites (even if in thought rather than deed) but were not possessed of enough discretion to make the right choices- was a step forward for a genre in which its young females had previously been portrayed as bimbo victims (Cover Girl Killer and The Night Caller spring to mind), but not one that all viewers would necessarily agree with. But most striking of all, and possibly the most enduring image which the viewer will take away with them, is of the masterful symbolism with which director Greene invests every shot. Every inch of the Kinch family's world- their house, their walls, their TV, Agutters underwear, bedroom furniture and toys, Sutcliffe's clothes, Marshalls van, the local Catholic church, their town centre, their record shop) - is painted a bright, scintillating white- a white which, by inference, is slowly becoming smudged and corrupted with the dirt of the outside world. White also symbolises, of course, purity and innocence (two qualities Catholic schoolgirls are supposed to hold dear), and it is into this world of innocence that the ever-present red bus (a symbol of violation and penetration), conducted by the lecherous yet similarly juvenile Simon Ward, makes regular journeys. The allegory is further expanded in one scene where Agutter believes she sees the Christ figure in church weeping blood: by the time we acknowledge it, its gone, but the seed has already been planted. Rarely in a genre production has the use of colour and background been so important or effective in creating a uniformity of mood. I Start Counting is as near-perfect an end to a decade as one could hope for, and exactly the kind of film people should be making now- which is, of course, exactly why they never will. A genre essential. by D.R.
不动声色地凌厉，家人吵架的那场戏很棒，很真实，让人太有代入感了。
在大中華圈的家庭裏，每一個個體都像小孩子一樣地情緒輸出：不能說不intimid，但是也談不上幸福吧。
片尾曲是陈绮贞的《尽在不言中》。
竟然是处女作，导演太成熟，敏感又脆弱尖锐又无力。挑不出什么毛病的片子，非常喜欢一些细节满满又情节缺失的处理。想拨乱反正，这才应该是最佳影片，林嘉欣也不知道比贾静雯强了几条街。
“我只是希望她能做得更好一些。”
东西方文化的冲突渗透到原本就支离破碎般的生活中衍生了各种看似无法调和却又真实发生在我们身边的不和谐，台湾的文艺和人文色调将这些冲突摁在了隐忍的泪与叹息中，这是儒家文化的共同性，每个人都在忍耐每个人都在承受每个人都在以为他人的名义考虑自我，这也是当下每个国人都有的痛点。阳台流泪的妈妈和楼梯哭泣的父亲两段戏很戳心。可即便各种虐心但生活还是要继续，不然还能怎样？这片子让我看到了经儒家文化熏陶后的人性的某种力度和弹性。
2021/12/06新光影城台北市婦女館特映。台詞很真實，跟《瀑布》比起來較貼近生活。
生活就是一地鸡毛。家是永恒的主题，她总能包容遥远的梦想和叛逆的孩子。林嘉欣和方郁婷的表演都很亮眼，情感真实而顺畅得流露到了观众心里。林嘉欣的发挥依旧稳定，但这次她一以贯之的收敛内化，却有些被方郁婷放肆张扬的表达盖过风头。
非典时期，我跟剧中女孩儿差不多的年纪。鸡毛蒜皮，父母子女，太真实了。林嘉欣距《暗色天堂》演技又进了一步
选的话题很犀利，但却都没挖进去
生活又日常的细节看得还是很有感触，东亚家庭真的好难，女性更难。。不过整体都是片段，实质没有进展，爸爸说的“就是在逃避”想到《青梅竹马》，感觉还是比《瀑布》好的
前面三分之二的内容我都好爱好爱，不猎奇，不文青，表现的就是当地人的精神面貌，无论是大陆还是台湾又或者是美国都有这样的问题，情节的设置其实还有反类型的设计。三分之一的疫情来袭后，真的让大陆人觉得他们的态度好是脱节，虽然主题一直贯彻始终，但是表达形式和吵架方式，不是当下的语言。又泛于文青的自嗨了，避重就轻的把故事讲完了，没拿金马最佳影片是有原因的！评奖好准啊
这种不好好说话的状态我在我妈身上见过太多次，很难说是因为电影里写实台词带来的的情绪共鸣还是它就是没那么好带来的抗拒，我三只手都选瀑布。
三星半 。还是没有深入，但是拍的蛮好看的（真的很讨厌那种明明是伤害，然后都说是为了你好，是因为爱你。。
女儿芳婷最恨母亲之处，不是母亲一厢情愿地把还在进行文化认同阶段的她带到美国，而后又不由分说地被现实击败，把她拽回母语之地任由适应，而是母亲不肯好好活着，母亲就要死了，恨一个人总比爱一个人容易。
長片處女作，細節很棒，也很有千禧年的氛圍，能讓人共情。方郁婷有好幾個很美的鏡頭，比如坐在公車上的側臉和與馬的對視。2021.12.6，光點華山。
-我只是觉得她可以做的更好。
林嘉欣好会演。小演员非常赞。但是有几场戏处理得不好，最遗憾的几场是在小女儿入院隔离到被通知只是普通肺炎这期间的故事，这部分是整部电影的高潮，也是解决家庭矛盾的关键所在，可惜的是故事的表现力很弱，形式也很单一，没有足够烘托出煎熬的气氛。如果能够将Sars这一线索强化，会把情绪堆叠得更好。
7.5，果然女性导演才能洞察到这种母女之间的情感。最有感触的，是女儿对母亲的“恨及抱怨”，这种情感就像老师说的那样，爱和恨有时候是一体两面。
“如果这已经是你妈妈能做的最好了呢？”
Copyright © 2015-2023 All Rights Reserved
