Kit Kittredge: An American Girl
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United States, 2008 (children's / fiction, 101 minutes, colour, English)
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Also known as
"An American Girl Mystery", "Kit Ketteredge : jeune fille américaine", "Kit Kittredge", "Kit Kittredge - Neiti neuvokas", "Kit Kittredge : journaliste en herbe", "Kit Kittredge: Amerykanska dziewczyna", "Kit Kittredge: An American Girl Mystery", "Kit Kittredge: Sueños de periodista", "Kit Kittredge: Una chica americana", "Kit och kassaskrinsmysteriet", "Kit: Uma Garota Especial"
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| Image: © patriciarozema.com |
Film Description:
"Aspiring reporter Kit Kittredge can't resist bringing home strays, whether it's Grace, an aspiring basset hound, or Will (Max Thieriot [...]) and Countee (Willow Smith), a pair of young hobos willing to trade work for meals. Bright, inquisitive and generous, Kit is a natural born leader. But her happy childhood is abruptly interrupted when her father (Chris O'Donnell) loses his car dealership and must leave Cincinnati to look for work. Kit and her mother Margaret (Julia Ormond) are left to manage on their own, growing vegetables, selling eggs and even taking in an assortment of boarders including an itinerant magician (Stanley Tucci), a vivacious dance instructor on the prowl for a husband (Jane Krakowski) and a zany mobile librarian (Joan Cusack). When a crime spree sweeps Cincinnati, all signs point to the local 'hobo jungle,' where Will and Countee live with a group of their impoverished companions. Kit, who always has her antennae out for a good news story, convinces her new friends to take her to see the hobo camp for herself and writes an article that creates a sympathetic portrait of the camp's residents. But when Kit's mother and their boarders become the latest victims in a string of robberies, Kit's loyalties are tested. [...]"
-- patriciarozema.com
(source)
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| Film Credits (partial): |
| Written by: |
Ann Peacock, Valerie Tripp |
| Produced by: |
Ellen L. Brothers, Lisa Roberts Gillan,
Elaine Goldsmith-Thomas, Terry Gould,
Julia Roberts, Marisa Yeres |
| Principal Cast: |
Abigail Breslin, Julia Ormond, Chris O'Donnell,
Jane Krakowski, Wallace Shawn, Max Thieriot,
Willow Smith, Glenne Headly, Zach Mills,
Kenneth Welsh, Madison Davenport, Joan Cusack,
Dylan Smith, Stanley Tucci, Douglas Nyback |
| Cinematography: |
David Boyd |
| Film Editing: |
Julie Rogers |
| Music: |
Joseph Vitarelli |
| Production Company: |
American Girl Brands,
Goldsmith-Thomas Productions, HBO Films,
New Line Cinema, Red Om Films |
(sources)
Notes about Kit Kittredge: An American Girl
- Based on American Girl dolls.
- Filmed in Ontario (Dundas, Tottenham, and Toronto).
(sources)
Quotes by the Director
"I have children, and I was looking around for a film to do for them—just to somehow acknowledge them with the skills I happen to have, to make a movie they could see and be a part of, where they could visit the set."
-- Patricia Rozema
(source)
"I simply loved the values the script was giving kids. Kit's a journalist, she's fighting for social justice, she's learning not to feel shame for having to wear dresses made out of feed sacks—all that felt like it could be contemporary, although I had no idea all these foreclosures were going to be happening in the U.S. when the movie came out, and that the film would actually end up being quite contemporary."
-- Patricia Rozema
(source)
Quotes about Kit Kittredge: An American Girl
"Helmer Patricia Rozema [...] does an excellent job navigating the film's tonal shifts, incorporating comedy, tragedy and a suspenseful denouement with equal grace."
-- Lael Loewenstein
(source)
"[Patricia Rozema] did something I'd never seen anyone do on a film before: She directed a scene with her four-year-old snuggled in her lap. 'What are the two words Mommy says?' she asked the angelic blond, who was in costume to play a hobo extra. 'Action and cut,' the tot said. 'And in between, what do you do?' Rozema asked. 'Zip it!' her daughter squeaked, pulling a finger across her pursed lips."
-- Joanna Schneller
(source)
"At the end of the film [Kit Kittredge: An American Girl], society is remade in the image of Kit's own desire (which is also her mother's): as a benevolent matriarchy which is inclusive of racial, class, and, within limits, gender differences."
-- Sue Thornham
(source)
Bibliography for Kit Kittredge: An American Girl
Brief Sections of Books
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Thornham, Sue. What If I Had Been the Hero?: Investigating Women's Cinema. London: Palgrave Macmillan on behalf of the British Film Institute, 2012.
(pp. 103-107)
Articles from Newspapers, Magazines, or News Websites
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Bilodeau, Martin. "Carnaval de conventions." Review of Kit Kittredge: An American Girl. Le Devoir, July 5, 2008.
[in French]
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Goodman, Lee-Anne. "Kittredge isn't all American: Canadian director of lusty Tell Me You Love Me balances her career with popular children's story." Waterloo Region Record, July 4, 2008, Arts section.
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Griffin, John. "Rozema makes triumphant return: Early reviews of Kit Kittredge; An American Girl see it as a rare movie about real girls." Montreal Gazette, June 28, 2008, Culture section.
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Loewenstein, Lael. "'Kit' lit yields a kidpic classic." Review of Kit Kittredge: An American Girl. Variety, June 23, 2008.
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Portman, Jamie. "Not your average American girl: Edgy director Rozema and Kit Kittredge make one unlikely mix." Interview with Patricia Rozema. Ottawa Citizen, July 3, 2008, Arts section.
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Schneller, Joanna. "What a woman's touch brought to American Girl." Interview with Patricia Rozema. Globe and Mail, July 5, 2008.
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Schwarzbaum, Lisa. "Kit Kittredge." Review of Kit Kittredge: An American Girl. Entertainment Weekly, July 11, 2008.
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Thompson, Bob. "All her real girls on film; Patricia Rozema is a Canadian filmmaker bringing an American legend to life." National Post, June 28, 2008, Toronto edition.
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Tremblay, Odile. "Le retour de Patricia Rozema : Son film pour enfants Kit Kittredge : An American Girl prendra l'affiche vendredi prochain dans nos salles." Interview with Patricia Rozema. Le Devoir, June 28, 2008.
[in French]
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Walker, Susan. "She did it for the girls: Toronto director made sure Kit Kittredge film would interest her kids." Toronto Star, July 6, 2008, Entertainment section.
Web Sites about Kit Kittredge: An American Girl
