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.
在20年前的台湾，看得出普通的中产家庭想要维持一个光鲜的美国梦是有点吃力的。明明以为自己再够一够手就能达到了，却被一场疾病打回原形，妈妈内心的不甘是比女儿更强烈的吧。
很棒能看到这样涉及跨文化身份题材的电影 一下能说出来很多故事 又仿佛缄口不提的一段秘密 那些永远处于“中间地带”的非黑非白 旁人眼中的“外国人“ 家这个概念已经被消解成莫名其妙的道德和价值 被自由代替 被魔怔淹没 你以为你想家吗 其实你只是想逃避一切
相比于瀑布，都是细腻的台影风格，又差了一点意思。
三星半。电影很多场景很琐碎，也放了很多细节，有些地方有心无力，但又很真实。
期待太高了，内心毫无波动。不要白天投屏看🥲好暗好暗。
感情表达很细腻，也有跟着落泪。不过好像只是在表达，意义并不深刻。结尾也有点突然结束，人物形象立的不是很饱满。（然后想想没有孩子应该不会这么愁吧，林嘉欣还是好美好美）
真实细腻且生活化，设定在非典时期增加了代入感，加入了海归的设定增加了文化观念冲突，但归根结底也还是家庭的冲突，于是在吵架中，无法判断到底是谁的过错。人还是有情绪的动物，本想好好说话但却总变得情绪化，这样的过程十分痛苦，对我也挺感同身受。而情绪的释放则在得知妹妹没事之后，爸爸在楼道掩面痛哭，妈妈帮姐姐掏耳朵。只是释放完之后呢，继续积累情绪吗，问题似乎解决了又好像没解决完。
精心设计的剧本，从细到大处处皆冲突和困境。但感觉女孩对文化和自身身份的认同的展现太过执着，反而忽略了女孩与家庭间关系的更丰富的变化，一直感觉在围着一个问题争吵。而母亲的形象刻画得略表面，希望看到更丰富，反而着墨不多的父亲比较出彩，当然也可能因为他不是那个比较沉的角色更容易有张力。幸好母亲的弱倒是被林嘉欣的美忽略了。感觉不够喉。
爸爸辛苦养家，妈妈得了癌症，女儿想回美国，一家人似乎永远处在“一切人对一切人”的“战争状态”中。在一个四口之家，生动地上演了一场有关代际冲突与文化隔阂的家庭战争。最为悲哀的是，其实互相都是有爱的，只不过以争吵的形式不适当地表达了出来。
若不是略显仓促的结尾，值得四星。小演员仿佛是牯岭街里的小明，浑然天成。
成长具有一系列共性的情绪符号：反叛和驯服，救赎和引导
有些话你听过别人说是没有用的，你要听到他/她说，你要自己说
那细碎的难和哀，大概只有中年人能懂吧。林嘉欣影后级。不过全片的台词略有点怪。
情绪的爆发和关系的转变都好生硬，尤其没懂女儿怎么从逃避到接受。
最喜欢的一段剪辑是从splash的马蹄铁切换到离家出走公车上的吊环把手。她爱马的自由，却未曾想过马也爱自由，每个人其实都是一样的孤独和自私。
导演处女作 原来拖堂不只是内地的专属 整体感觉比瀑布精彩 戏剧冲突也更强烈 网吧里的歌是周董的安静
情感碰撞激烈到莫名其妙。 母亲承受着生理和心理双重痛苦，还要打理一家人的生活，大女儿偏偏最恨这个处处对她照顾有佳的妈妈，叛逆期也不是这种叛逆法好嘛？天天恨母亲为什么从美国回来为什么情绪消极低落，拜托你妈得了重病好嘛？我从一开始看老师体罚小姑娘气的要死到后面爸爸打她恨不得冲进去帮着打是为什么？情感铺垫太过单薄，情绪冲突又太过火，这电影就是靠虐一位母亲来传达什么人生理念吗？
逻辑不通，虽然入围了7个奖项，名声大噪，但是故事就是非常刻意的，有意的，故意的让人不好受。
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。
又是结局没结好，铺开了一个很好的人物关系结果到后来就这样草草结束了，什么都没深入展开….但前面真的挺好的，很台湾
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