Relentless and often tough film hybridising these ingredients of coming of age; family relations and high-school drama to really good effect..

Rating: 7/10 (2 February 2012)

It would be fair to say that the titular character in Brian De Palma's Carrie is in no way leading a "normal" life at the precious, delicate stage she is. True to theory, De Palma inter-cuts between two scenes encapsulating the varied natures of what might constitute as ordinary teen-aged behaviour with what it is that our lead must go through at precisely the same time. The two scenes see school bully Sue (Irving), and what appears to be a standard night OUT for her, placed up against a typical night IN for our Carrie, played with vulnerable relish by that of Sissy Spacek. Sue is of the young; athletic and confrontative sort. She sits beside boyfriend Billy upfront in the passenger seat as they cruise around in his car. They're in the middle of a sort of argument, but it's one of those squabbles which you know no matter how long it goes on, as long as it doesn't venture beyond a certain threshold of aggression, everything will remain sound by this time tomorrow. She's challenging him as they chug along when he raised the point that he'd quite like her to stop playfully insulting him, but she plugs away anyway.
It's a scene demonstrating an exchange in power and an established dynamic between two characters being pulled and pushed back either way; a scene told alongside another that involves Carrie who's at home with her mother. Here is another instance involving a young girl bordering on the leaving of high school in which that person must engage in an established dynamic built on further exchanges of power, only this time with an icy and thoroughly religious woman whose idea of 'saving' Carrie is to stilt her growing out of childhood. Neither instance is necessarily that constructive in their overall breakdown, but I would take a guess that the one involving Sue and Billy best represents how 'typical' young women might be spending their evenings. Oh, to be able to engage in a natural back-and-forth whilst out and about in the side seat of a friend's car wherein you challenge the dominant force of a partner rather than remain shut away inside with that of an equal force engaging in strict mealtime processions and being forced into reading the bible whilst locked in a closet.
Carrie's lives in America and attends a high-school with many other girls of her age, most of whom bully; berate and wind her up. The volleyball match opening the film suggests good, healthy competition amidst the girls - competitors go for shots and clearly enjoy the physical activity to De Palma's applied slow motion. The reality is quite the opposite when we reach the girl at the back in the corner doing her best to stay away from the action; it is Carrie and alas, one of the members on the other team no doubt spots the weak spot in Carrie's team's makeup in so much she provides her with something to do: specifically, make the crucial shot on match point. She blows it and the ugly scenes as Carrie is 'comiserated' by her teammates alludes to the bigger picture.
Not so far away is Carrie's mother Margaret (Laurie), a preacher who goes from door to door attempting to spread her religious musings in a way which is at once all of enthusiastic and quite maddening. One occasion sees her turned away by those whom own the house she has just called upon, and we note how pleased they are to be rid of her. The film does not linger with this family and their, in comparison rather perfect, set up nor further detail them much. Instead, we track home with the fanatic and to her domestic situation; Carrie's school day in mind, one could feasibly say that it is the more pleasant-a half of her daily existence as when she gets home to her lone mother, things are cranked up a notch. De Palma utilises the incoming end of school prom night dance as a looming deadline, in turn transforming everything into a shrill, and at times agonised, low level drama which happens to mutate into domains of the uncanny when great levels of frustration and anger boil up.
The film is essentially one big build up to the prank-of-all-pranks that the bullies, lead by the aforementioned Sue and her partner Billy, who himself isn't shy of getting stuck into a hair-raising situation when we observe him out drinking and driving at once with the verbal confirmation that police cars are buzzing around, aim to play on Carrie at the end of school dance. Prior to all of this, the film shoots Carrie purchasing a dress for the special evening to the same music that accompanied the rest of the girls engaging in gym class; a series of exercises making light of their sexuality to highly suggestive musical overtures. Carrie is unsure of the prom and unsure that she has the ability to share such a realm with that of the 'other' girls, but the use of the musical track as she attempts to burrow her way onto a level playing surface following one boy's asking of her to the dance suggests she is approaching achieving otherwise. In spite of its reputation and what it is people either predominantly know or remember it for, the film is a low-level American town character drama more than anything else and works really well to that degree and is something most certainly worth checking out.