All Reviews

A fast engaging read--it pulled me in from the first page to the last. Very visual with a kind of poetry to much of the prose. As I give it a quick look again after six weeks (it was one of the first scripts I read from this site) I'm taken with how strong the opening image is. We see a little girl playing dress-up, emblematic of the theme, about a girl trying to grow up faster than she's ready to.

I thought the time period, and the place were captured well--the historical milieu and the cultural collide of Americans in the Philipines was really interesting and added a lot of texture and depth to the story. Hilda's visit to the shack of a local witch woman is a nice example of this cultural juxtaposition:

"Herbs and reptile parts hang from the ceiling poles. Jars of preserved toads, bats, and monkey skulls line narrow shelves.
The walls are covered with faded posters and magazine clippings of American movie stars: Cary Grant, Katherine Hepburn, Marilyn Monroe. Everywhere, piles of fashion magazines, mixed in with scraps of paper and yellowing books."

I feel bad, because this is one of the first scripts I read on this site. I liked it so much that I've been telling myself that it was deserving of obtaining a copy with page numbers and giving it a more thorough review and possibly some notes. But page numbers have not arrived, and now I have let too much time pass to ably rank each aspect. But my memory is that it is strong across the board, and so I'm giving it five stars as a recommendation. You should read this script!

extremely well-written script--this is a very unique, poetic and deeply humanistic story with a strong narrative pulse. it has a sort of magical realistic feeling to it, but still rooted in a real, believable situation. it's very well-constructed and does a great job at developing the narrative, step by step, and also providing powerful thematic visual metaphors--the story is really brought to life and has a lot of color to it.

what strikes me most about this script is that it's a unique story that has never been told before--
a 14 yr. old girl's love for soldier, oedipal-esque situation, traditional island witchcraft...based in 1940's philiipines--but is totally relate-able and feels like a universal story...and it grabs you and sucks you in.

highly recommended read.

This is a intimate story, sublime in the details of childhood emotion and perspective. It is a delicately woven tale that pulls one into the frightening and wonderful world of a 14 year girl, one alight with a world of possibility, the outside world itself on the verge of the 20th century's greatest conflagration.
The tensions between mother and daughter are drawn with a deft ear to the competitive impulses that shadow the desire for self-determination and abandon. The tensions between friends, among soldiers and civilians, laborers and farm owners are likewise taut and discerningly drawn in their emotional detail.
The author evokes a landscape, physical, historical and cultural is that is filled with magic, threat and wonder. The narrative pulls one into the fabric of this world with ease. We leave it with a bit of trepidation wondering what awaits our young heroine but still with the better part of hope attending to what may come.

The phillipines is a wonderful setting for such an intimate experience, rich in colour and blended in the heat.

From the moment hilda hands over the "beautiful gun" to the doctor I wanted to know more about this girl and her world. I was not disappointed.

Congratulations Eileen.

I was really pulled into this story – everything was so engaging, from the scenic descriptions to the personalities and feelings of all the characters. Reading this story was like being right there and frankly it was very difficult to put down.

In terms of the subject matter, it was an engaging tale of a young girl growing up before her time alone – in part because of the time period but mainly because of her difficult life circumstances. For instance, her mother loved her very much but her energy was taken up with other things that may have been different if she wasn’t a single mother.

Hilda’s feelings of first love, selfish, yet pure are so perfectly described . All the characters were truly sympathetic, despite some of the morally questionable choices they made.

This is not a story I have heard before, and the blending of Filipino and Western cultures make for a unique and exotic tableau. That said, the characters, Hilda and her mother in particular are sympathetic and moving in a universally familiar way.
Coming of age is a dynamic transition, and coming of age in the presence of war, witches, mysterious topography and superstition is even more so. I loved this script, and read it like a book I could not put down.

It only needs to polish some details regarding its timeline for Marilyn Monroe, I'm afraid was not on films in 1941, and I would have love it if we could just see more on Hilda and Charlie after she kissed him. It kind of fade away too soon. It would also might be interesting actually seeing Hilda lying to have her friend been left without a dancing partner, the other soldier. There is one spell I confess I'm not sure I got clear: the first one on Charlie where she is supposed to turn into pig. Instead, Hilda kisses him. That BTW, I just loved it.

It runs quite well. You do not need to rush or stop to take a relax. It just flows quite well.