Todd Solondz by alexandr beran

Todd Solondz is playfully realistic, pointing to the cruelty that lies in the hearts of any suburban person. It doesn't take a battlefield scarred with bloodshed and imminent death to bring out inhumanity. In fact, the quest for happiness at your neighbors' expense would do the trick.

In his films, characters are related by situations that are relevant to the film's theme, regardless of these characters interacting or not. A story of sadness, fragility and absurdity is told through players living out that which either the viewer or they themselves later will find abhorrent.

As Welcome to the Dollhouse resembles a crueler, more savage Napoleon Dynamite, Palindromes is much less palatable, especially in regard to the protagonist being played by eight different actresses, different in age, race and size; yet still exhibiting the same mousy voice. But both film's tackle uneasy issues, and do so in creative and, in many cases, humorous ways. The actors speak simple, well-crafted lines slowly, but their faces are able to be read into and in more subtle ways as his films evolve.

Play Welcome to the Dollhouse, Chapter 5 @12:43 (A sad, comedic scene between Dawn and her club buddy and then her family, where she spits venom at what she feels embodies her alienation from her peers.)

In Palindromes, while dealing with the heavy issue that is abortion, Solondz still writes characters that almost speak in monologues to one another, featuring a childishness and, at times, comedic digressions.

Play Palindromes, Chapter 3 @ 19:23 (Aveva's mother explains that she too had to get an abortion while Aveva was small, and her description of her grandfather and the listing of the abortion's advantages are classic Solondz)

With the religious anti-abortionists, they explain their beliefs as if always telling a child, no matter the subject matter. This is true with the few adults in that arrangement, but the following clip features a powerful scene with a youth displaying said quality.

Play Palindromes, Chapter 6 @ 50:25 (Here Peter-Paul takes Aveva, using the symbolic alias of Henrietta, to a place the family goes on occasion, as part of their ritual)

I feel that Solondz philosophy is that people, as cruel as they can be, do not change. They remain petty and wanting. In addition to the naming of the film Palindromes as a metaphor for constant and grotesque behavior, he displays this idea in a unique way: The first moments of Palindromes features the death of Dawn Weiner, the protagonist from Welcome to the Dollhouse, and at the eulogy, her then and still brother Mark talks about her life of disappointment advancing into adulthood and then into a tragic death... so tragic, in fact, that you can't help but laugh.   

"Some people will of course accuse me of misanthropy and cynicism. I can't celebrate humanity but I'm not out to indict it either. I just want to expose certain truths." -Solondz [IMDb]