Girl Model DVD Review

Girl Model opens with a shot of Siberia in winter, an exterior shot that feels bleak and cold. We then go inside, to find rows of girls in bathing suits, with photos being taken of them, and in its own way this scene is just as bleak and cold. Each girl in turn stands before two people – a man and a woman who discuss each girl as she stands there. One is dismissed for her hips being too big; another has pimples. Girls that seem very thin are told they’ll be put on diets. These are teenagers. Teenagers who wish to be models.

Girl Model is an excellent and completely engaging and at times upsetting documentary about teen models working in foreign markets.  It focuses on two women: Ashley, an ex-model who now works as a model scout, and Nadya, Ashley’s newest discovery, a thirteen-year-old girl. So we see this world from two perspectives.

Ashley is looking for girls for the Japanese market. For Japan, she says girls must be cute, not too tall, and young. “Young is very important.” Also, “They love skinny girls in Japan.” One girl, Nadya, age 13, fits the bill and is selected by Ashley. Ashley takes video of her walking, and then adjusts Nadya’s hair to show how long it is. It’s like watching someone adjust a prize piece of produce at a county fair. It’s quite unsettling, especially how naturally it happens.

Ashley says, “Youth is beautiful. Because there’s a luminosity, there’s something in the skin. There’s something innocent. And that’s what my eye has been trained to see from Japan. So I look at beauty and I think of young girls. Beautiful.” I can’t help but think that if it were a man saying that, we’d feel much more unsettled by it.

We are also introduced to Tigran, the owner of Noah Models, representing Nadya and hundreds of other girls. He says he’s trying to save these young girls, help them grow as individuals. He actually says that for him “it’s a religious matter.” The odd thing is he seems sweet and honest, like he truly believes what he’s saying, that he truly believes he’s helping them. And maybe he is.

Nadya is sent to Tokyo, without her parents, without a chaperone. She’s alone. It’s interesting, because you get the feeling that she’s more comfortable because of the presence of the camera. If it weren’t for this documentary, she’d really be alone, and might break down. (It’s like you’re glad the cameras are there – for once making a subject more comfortable rather than less so.)

Interestingly, we then go to Ashley at home in Connecticut. She has a spacious house, with lots of windows. She says, “It’s great in the daytime, but scary at night. When I stay here alone, I get scared.” We just saw how alone Nadya is, and then we see how alone Ashley is. She’s nervous, because with the lights on inside, people outside can see her, but she can’t see them. Ashley needs to buy curtains.

Ashley comes across as slightly damaged. There are two naked dolls in her house, and she says that when she bought the house, she bought the two dolls (actually three, but she dissected one, she says). The dolls are creepy, and you wonder just how strongly her modeling career has affected her. I was fascinated by the footage the documentary shows of Ashley as a model in Japan in 1999, when she was eighteen. Ashley talks about how she was depressed when she was a model. As creepy as the dolls are, Ashley’s collection of photographs weirded me out much more. They’re of girls’ feet, hands – models dismembered without them even knowing (she said she’d hide the camera under the table so they wouldn’t be aware).

Meanwhile, Nadya is standing in front of group of Japanese women. A Japanese man is essentially selling her to them. He tells them, “She is a little short, but has a strong presence.” One woman tells him, “I am looking for a more cool and stylish girl.” Nadya stands quietly in front of them through this. It’s like she’s not even there. In fact, the guy tells the women that they can tell by the material that she’s beautiful. By the material. Not by looking at the actual person standing in front of them. It’s chilling.

I love that the film allows itself several quiet moments, with the camera often holding on Nadya. These shots actually work to make us feel more strongly for her, to align us with her. For we’re silent, as she is, tossed into a situation beyond her control. The experience feels as foreign to her as it does to us. And at age thirteen, how can someone be in control of her career and know she’s not getting ripped off? She can’t. And we learn that Nadya was not paid for a photo shoot.

The film does present her contract as well, which as you might guess is disgusting. One article states that the contract can be terminated if Nadya gains one centimeter in her waist, hips or bust. She’s thirteen. Thirteen-year-olds are still naturally growing. There are times you just want to reach into the film and take Nadya out of that world.

At the same time, you can’t really hate Ashley, or think of her as responsible or a villain, because she still seems that frightened teenager that she was at the beginning of her career.

Toward the end of the documentary there is a moment when at a newsstand Nadya finds a photo of herself in a magazine. Excited, she buys the magazine. She’s happy, but it’s such a sad moment. It’s one of the many images from this film that I am unable to shake.

Bonus Material

The DVD includes six bonus scenes, totaling approximately fifteen minutes. The most interesting one for me is the café scene, where Ashley talks about some of the bad things she’s head happening in Japan. There is also a short scene where Nadya and her mother discuss nudity. And we’re treated to a tour of the agency.  The DVD also includes a brief biography of the filmmakers.

Girl Model was directed by David Redmon and Ashley Sabin. It was released on DVD on February 12, 2013 through First Run Features.