★★★★☆ (4/5) – A surreal, tender masterpiece of violent whimsy.
The 2011 film Violet & Daisy , directed by Geoffrey Fletcher, is a polarizing crime comedy that centers on two teenage assassins (Alexis Bledel and Saoirse Ronan) who take an "easy" job to buy designer dresses, only to find their target (James Gandolfini) is not what they expected. Violet And Daisy
Their downfall began with a man named William "Bill" Ghent, a former boxer and general ne'er-do-well. According to the sisters, Ghent had been a family friend—until he started blackmailing their father. Ghent knew a secret about their past, and he was squeezing the family dry. ★★★★☆ (4/5) – A surreal, tender masterpiece of
The film employs what critics have called "Bubblegum Noir." The lighting is neon and soft. The violence is abrupt and cartoonish, often punctuated by squelching sound effects that feel lifted from a Looney Tunes short. Violet wears a platinum blonde wig and a silver dress; Daisy sports a dark pageboy bob and a catholic schoolgirl uniform. According to the sisters, Ghent had been a
is a flower often associated with modesty, faithfulness, and nobility. "Shrinking violet" is a common idiom for someone who is shy or introverted. In the context of the film, Violet is the inverse of this idiom. She is bold, loud in her actions, and immodest in her disregard for societal norms. Yet, perhaps the name suggests what she could have been—a noble spirit twisted by a dark industry. The violet also grows low to the ground, hidden; symbolically, Violet operates in the shadows, the underground of society.
When the police finally arrested the sisters, they didn't find hardened criminals. They found a diary. Specifically, a scrapbook filled with newspaper clippings about other famous murder trials. But the strangest detail? Pinned to the pages were locks of hair from their victims.
When the trial began, the public was torn. Half the crowd wanted them hanged. The other half wanted autographs.