Long before he brought us The Toxic Avenger, Lloyd Kaufman was a student at Yale University majoring in Chinese studies. In 1966, Kaufman took a break from college to work in the Peace Corps as a pathfinder in Chad. After returning home, he worked as a producer on the film Rappaccini by director Robert Edelstein. Towards the end of his college career, Kaufman decided to try his hand at filmmaking, working with a $2,000 budget. Kaufman could only afford a Bolex camera that didn’t have sound sync and could only record up to 40 seconds. Most of the cast was unknown actors who haven’t appeared in anything since, though future producer Michael Herz appeared. Once filming wrapped, various east coast universities, including Yale and Harvard, screened the film for an eager audience. Now, let’s go back to 1969 and look at Kaufman’s directorial debut, The Girl Who Returned.
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Synopsis
In an alternate reality, the only nations left on Earth are Luxembourg, comprised of women, and Mongolia, ruled by men. Each country competes in an Olympics competition every four years to determine who controls the world. Lucy (Gretchen Herman) trains with her strict coach Geneva (Beverly Galley) to become the best runner in Luxembourg. However, Lucy feels drained and controlled by her domineering coach, so she breaks free from home. She makes her way to Mongolia, where she meets a man (Tim McClean) and instantly falls in love. While the two of them grow as a couple, the Olympics in Luxembourg is in full swing. Soon, Lucy has to decide between her newfound lover and her devotion to her home country. At least, that’s what I think is supposed to be happening in this otherwise jumbled mess of shots.
Review
Usually, I can write a review of just about any movie with relatively no trouble, even if they’re incomprehensible. However, I was utterly baffled by The Girl Who Returned and didn’t know what I could say. On the one hand, it’s a fascinating piece of Troma and Lloyd Kaufman’s career history. On the other hand, it’s one of the most confusing and indecipherable movies I’ve ever seen. Of course, not every filmmaker’s first feature will be as good as Citizen Kane or Reservoir Dogs. That said, this feels like the stereotypical student film: black and white photography, no dialogue, and non-traditional storytelling. Also, like many student films, this comes off somewhat pretentious and too ambitious for its own good. It says a lot when even Lloyd Kaufman, the film’s director, refers to the movie as “boring.”
Since this is a silent film, judging the acting is challenging since there’s no audible dialogue. Going off of body language, much of the cast feels stiff and uninterested, like the actors have no direction. They lack the emotional expression of silent film stars like Buster Keaton, Charlie Chaplin, or Lon Chaney. It doesn’t help that there aren’t any dialogue cards to show us what the characters are saying. The only information given to us comes from a pair of narrators who sound like they’re making things up. At 66 minutes, the film drags on and on until it abruptly ends with no clear resolution. Like I said earlier in the review, Troma completionists will probably enjoy watching this as a curiosity, but that’s it. Overall, The Girl Who Returned has its place, but I wouldn’t recommend this to Troma newcomers.
Watch The Girl Who Returned on Troma Now: https://bit.ly/3qTL8XI.
