There’s also nothing inherently hopeful or compelling about watching a group of kids in raggedy clothes and after-school drama club-worthy props. The Captain wears steampunk-like welding glasses while Yusuf (Ozgur Civelek), his overweight, noseless second-in-command, wears dirty coveralls with only one functioning strap, and a rodent-like prosthetic snout that’s held in place by a white elastic band. The Captain says that he’s wary of “zombie” attacks, but his group always seem to be ready and on the move whenever Kemal eventually re-appears and tries to hurt Perihan. It’s almost as if these kids were smarter than we might think based on their raggedy clothes or proudly juvenile attitude …
The world of “Girl With No Mouth” isn’t just void of meaningful, let alone sustainable, inter-personal connections—it doesn’t even have significant-looking symbolism. Perihan carries a Snow White doll around with her, the Disney version with the yellow dress and the blue-and-red shoulder pads; her doll doesn’t have a mouth either. “Did you find this doll somewhere?” the Captain asks. “Was it your mom’s?” Perihan looks away, so he changes the subject: “Want to hear an adventure?” Weren’t these kids supposed to be looking for the “Lost City”?
Maybe a better question is: shouldn’t “Girl With No Mouth” hint at something beyond a world of hackneyed storytelling tropes and hackier violence? Maybe something about how marginalized women are in even pseudo-progressive stories like this, as Yusuf suggests when he complains that “[Perihan] might be one of us, but it’s bad fortune to have a woman on board.” Or how hopeful these kids are despite living in a future where adolescent stories are their only comfort, like when the Captain tries to describe the white horse that he, a “Pirate,” might ride, but only winds up joking about how his imaginary steed “smells a bit like horse sh*t.” And don’t get me started on the overbearing flute-and-strings score, which suggests Prokofiev’s “Peter and the Wolf” without ever approaching its quality or effect. I wonder when the zombies are going to arrive, and what kind of ironically cued classical music they like.
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