In 1977, a race of aliens visit England disguised as humans. One of them, Zan, is curious to know what punk rock is after meeting an interesting boy, Enn, who loves it so much.
Blaine: One of the producers read Neil Gaiman’s short story and thought it should be made into a film. It wasn’t easy to buy the rights to the story. A lot of movies that have been made don’t stay true to the story or novel they are based off of. They take a different turn and Neil Gaiman didn’t want that to happen with “How to Talk to Girls At Parties”. That’s why he didn’t want to sell it to the producer. But Neil did end up selling the rights. He and screenwriter Philippa Goslett discussed how the screenplay should go and then John Cameron Mitchell came in to help expand the story. The short story is about two boys who go to a party where the girls are acting a bit weird. What they don’t know is that these girls are aliens. The movie involves three boys wanting to get laid, but it focusses on Enn having a relationship with the alien, Zan, played by Elle Fanning. John decided to add punk into the story because he loves it. Enn starts off as someone trying to hook up with someone, but he isn’t having any luck. He just needs to find that certain someone who is special. Then he overhears Zan talking to her group and he understands what she is saying. What Zan wants is to explore new things and know what Earthlings do.
One of the other boys, Vic, knows there is something wrong with these people at the party. One of them tries to give him an anal probe and he freaks out. The boys believe that this group might be a suicidal cult. But Vic later snoops on one of the aliens giving an anal probe to someone else and another being comes out of her skin and he learns that they aren’t human. “How to Talk to Girls At Parties” was Alex Sharp’s first movie and I think he is fantastic. John gave Alex books and tapes about punk rock so he could learn more about it. When Alex talks about punk in the movie, he says it with passion and that’s because his character, Enn, loves punk. Enn doesn’t fully understand why Zan acts weird, but he does notice a few things about her that are other worldly.
Co-screenwriter Philippa Goslett wrote in a character named Allison, but after John came on board he made a lot of changes to that character. Her name changed to Boadicea because John has always liked that name and she became the godmother of punk rock. John had worked with Nicole Kidman on “Rabbit Hole” and he had her in mind for Queen Boadica. Working on “How to Talk to Girls At Parties” made Nicole feel a little uncomfortable because of all the punk rock. Queen Boadica’s looks were based off of David Bowie. Costume designer Sandy Powell had a lot of problems with how John wanted the costumes to look. The zippers around Nicole Kidman’s neck was one of them. These costumes looked cheap. They couldn’t afford nicer costumes because this was a low budget film, but that didn’t matter to John because he felt the people who wore those outfits back then couldn’t afford to make them look nicer.
John didn’t realize that Alex Sharp and Elle Fanning could sing, so he added in a scene where they both sing in front of punk fans and then things become magical. All of sudden they are in outer space and they have sex, spiritually not physically. It’s almost like watching a music video. Sandy Powell had designed a costume for that scene, but the problem was she couldn’t get it done on time. She was behind and that scene was three days away from being shot. John was a little nervous and asked Sandy what they were going to do and she quickly thought about these rubber bodysuits and he loved it. Alex and Elle would share laughs while wearing those suits and John would have to keep telling them to stop because they were going to shoot the scene. They kept cracking up while the camera was rolling. John thought about the suits changing colors while they were shooting that scene and so he told the visual effects department to play with colors. The aliens have five different groups and the costumes they wear represent how each group is a different species. John told Sandy Powell that the aliens should look like aliens from the 70s. Each group has a leader and one of them is led by Ruth Wilson. Ruth Wilson had to read the script four times in order to understand it. Ruth’s group wears these orange suits with black in the chest area.
Vic runs into the two aliens that tried to probe him and he is scared of them, but then he decides not to resist them and they become gentle with him. Enn’s dad left him when he was nine and once he learns that Zan is pregnant with his child he wants to be there for the both of them. He doesn’t want to abandon them like his father did with him. Problem is Zan can’t give birth on Earth because her species works differently. She has to go back to her planet and give birth there. Zan doesn’t want to leave Enn, but she has no choice. Things get emotional during that scene because saying goodbye is really hard for Enn and Zan. Enn thinks that Zan is trying to commit suicide by jumping off a building, but she’s not. Jumping off a building helps the aliens transport back home. When they jump this portal must show up and takes them straight back to the planet they came from. Alex Sharp and Elle Fanning’s performances in that scene are really good. They show a lot of drama on their faces because they want to be together and their eyes are full of tears. Before Zan leaves, she lets Enn know that she loves him. She jumps, vanishes and Enn never sees her again. The movie starts off with three boys wanting to get laid, but in the end Enn and Vic experience what love is. Fifteen years have passed and Enn has achieved a successful career in writing graphic novels that he had based on his experience with Zan. Things get emotional again because Enn meets five teenagers and they reveal themselves to be his kids. Apparently Zan was pregnant with five instead of just one. Enn is so happy to meet his children for the first time and he gets all teary.
My rating on “How to Talk to Girls At Parties” is five out of five stars.
