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.
站在covid回看SARS，如果把视角缩小到家庭生活，这20年的鸿沟从未存在。母女三人从LA回到新店，家庭中截然不同的价值观和逆向文化冲击影响着少女，对东亚家庭生活中的冲突和矛盾描述可以说刻板，但又足够真实。母女之间撕裂的伤口是否可以愈合，本身没有答案，但整本电影足够温柔。
没有情绪的起伏而只是一味的在压抑中愤然归结于对方的自私而达不到自己的要求，就做不到让观众产生同理。文化冲突和疫情都只是这个电影在当下想要挂上噱头的手段。真正的矛盾与冲突只会在日常琐碎里越积越深，而电影里除了妹妹之外的三人充满刻意性与表演性的吵架，都只会更加重不真实感。相比之下，瀑布在各方面都高出一筹。
从美国到台湾，生活场景发生了变化，作为台湾出生实则已是美国女孩的姐妹俩，自然得有一个相当艰难的适应过程，无论是生活方式还是学校教育方式，以及交流语言，都得有很大的变化。更何况他们的家庭也正处于困难时期，妈妈身患重病，爸爸也是工作辛苦，当时的台湾经济亦不景气，导演更是将故事背景置于非典爆发之时。所有的矛盾交织，夫妻之间恩怨不断，母女之间火星四溅，人人怨气很大，生活一地鸡毛。寻常人的生活，平淡而真实。两个小演员演技很好，表情语气拿捏到位，国语英语转换自如。真是难得。
-你到底在气你妈妈什么？
很青涩，很普通，却也很细腻。说不上哪里好，甚至可以说少了些灵气，但似乎有那么些时刻，我们都像外来者，与家庭与周遭格格不入。想完整听女儿的信。3.5
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
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。
单调却真诚，倾注了沉甸甸的生命体验，刻骨铭心。每一次争吵后混杂着温情和痛苦的余震，对身边人乃至对自己的恨意的反复回荡，当这些真实可感甚至能唤醒记忆的情感的时候，再多技巧都显得多余。
这一代应该刚好是侯孝贤镜头下天天说去美国的那代人，以及他们的孩子。很多跨文化或者说移二代的文化冲突细节，就好像在开上帝视角看一家人过日子。然而总觉得少了点什么。
La relation très spéciale dans une famille asiatique, commune et déprimante.
每个人都好累呀，演员都不错，就是剧作上略单一。
2.5+ 即便不足以串起文化冲突和生活的转向，但作为私人记忆已然足够真挚。但却又显然不够收敛，似乎意图敞开但找不到视角，于是在更大尺度上显得失真刻意
看到这里我很想问大女儿，那你做好了吗？你做好你的部分了吗？
我太喜欢这个电影了 第一次“如果这是你妈妈最好的状态了呢”我们会不会对大人要求也太多
越长大越绝望
3星半。观看的过程突然就想到了《小伟》，同样是亲人罹患癌症的家庭背景下，同样的美国梦，《美国女孩》优在独特的故事题材无可取代，但是《小伟》的结局处理方式让人更加惊喜。不过，阮导在《美国女孩》里展现的平稳叙事和成熟稳重，加上台湾语境下表达的自由空间，让人非常期待导演的下一部，未来可期。
家庭情节剧依靠情节驱动，意味着我们看到了什么，它就讲了什么，对人、事、时代欠缺更深及更多层次表达，余味是没有的。诸多细节太过于熟悉，明显拉近了我和它的距离，更容易让我沉浸其中，记忆被深深触动。电影隐含了几许观念的冲突，成为检验观众立场的试纸，体罚和罚站、强压式教学、家庭沟通模式，假设你是外来者，周边对你的排斥、嘲讽、欺负……我对这些一点也无法容忍，始终站在女儿的立场上并且毫不犹豫。（台湾社会进入良性轨迹，只微调细处就会变得越来越好。）
电影挺细腻的，关于移民身份，关于母女关系，妈妈因为患癌把两个女儿带回台湾，又重新和爸爸组成一家四口，确实是个很有故事性的切入点，很久没看林嘉欣演的戏，她还是那么静如止水，却很有力量。
可能因为倾诉欲太强烈了感觉故事其实讲得有点粗糙，但真的很好哭，好几个家人相处的地方看得胃痛，和《别告诉她》如果对照着看可能还蛮有意思的
其实是父母早逝，只身携带双女在美国的女强人，片子却聚焦她无奈病回台湾在家庭里的无助，大女儿只会反问“为啥妈妈这么软弱”。 青春的叛逆姐姐，懂事互补的妹妹，面对死亡阴影夫妻不同的态度，都无比真实且细腻。喜欢结尾，母亲跟父亲的两场哭戏之后，家庭也走向和解，留白空镜头。
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