The winners of the 2009 COA Blogs Movie Awards

The winners of the 2009 Coming of Age blogs movie awards are ready to be announced. I must admit that I hoped that most people would participate in the nominating and voting process – which to my surprise did not happen. However the Awards are fact and I own a big ” Thank you ” to everyone who voted or by other means helped in this project.

The winners are :

Acting award nominations

Piotr Jagielski for his role in Jestem

Soundtrack nominations

En Tu Ausencia

Best cinematography nominations

Wild Tigers I Have Known

Best Coming-Of-Age Value Nomination

Perl Oder Pica

Short film nominations

2 Minites

Sueños

Sueños is a Spanish short film released directed by Daniel Guzmán. It was filmed in Madrid and released in 2003 and a year later won the Goya award for the best short film.

The story is about two friends who spent a hot summer day on a rooftop in the neighborhood of Aluche – sunbathing, listening to music, and talking about their desires and dreams. They know little of life and make plans, each in its own way, without knowing what awaits them across the corner. The young protagonists in the film (Adrián Gordilloy and Adam Jeziersky ) deliver a very good and credible performance. A bit of leisure in early childhood becomes an important dialogue that makes strong trends in life.

As with most successful films, the personality of the director is reflected in his creation which makes it so appealing to the audience. When asked to describe what inspired him to direct Sueños, Daniels Guzmán said :

“Dreams is the story of my adolescence, my past. I have my concerns, my desires, my fears and my dreams that I had at that stage of my life by mixing it with a bet, and a game as a backdrop. I wanted to share my concerns and experiences of that time.” (source)

Montreal Main

I found out about ” Montreal main ” in one of the “Coming of age books ” I have. I was intrigued by its summary and the screen shot of it that was published in the book. Thanks to CVMC I now have seen the film and even trough it turned out to be a bit different than my expectations were I found it quite moody and interesting . I am getting a taste towards films produced in Canada as the directors there seem always ready to work on topics many others would prefer to avoid ( Jet Boy for example is another example of a good Canadian movie )

The story in Monreal Main revolves about Frank Vitale – a photographer and his circle of friends in Monreal in the 1960’s. The films turn-point is when Franc befriends the 12 years old Johnny after doing a photo session of him with the permission of his parents . Johhny and Franch buddy up rapidly and their friendship flourish as each other teaches the other a lot of things about life – from how to take photos to how to repair broken bulbs and work with electrical gadgets . However their age difference causes suspicion amongst Johhny`s parents and the friend of Franc. Carlos Martinez Escalona who reviewed the film in its IMDB page excellently described the overall tone of the film by writing : ” It goes deep into the relentless fixations of a tightly knit society, where truths are told and lies are kept. Where the closeness of some people is sometimes unbearable and distance is painful.” And that is indeed the case – especially those days when the paranoia seems to be everywhere and many people are willing to doubt such a wonderful thing as the real friendship.

The film has its contrasts – contrast of feelings ,social classes and perceptions. Some of them are out there for everyone to see – while others are to be found in the dialogues and visuals trough out it . Speaking of dialogues Monreal Main is full of an intriguing ones , sometimes metaphoric – other times abstract or full of wisdom. Generally speaking they as well as the film`s photography and editing are quite good , but one has to really concentrate to be able to understand or at least interpreted the director`s ideas – such as the parallel plots we observe trough the film which while distinct focus the attention to the central issues of the film – humans interaction , relationships and friendships.

As you know my review are usually focused on movies which are partially or fully focused on the coming of age phenomena and “Montreal Main ” is no exception. More than one of its characters goes trough the coming of age process as the story revolves – and as it is often the case one`s age doesn`t make that process more or less difficult nor less unique for either one.

I enjoyed the film and do not hesitate it to anyone who may found my review of it at least a bit intriguing. Admittingly I am not found of the ending of ” Montreal main ” – but that is not because its is detached from reality – on the contrary – its just that once in a while I would like to see such good independent films with an ending as abstract and metaphoric as the scenes in them.

httpv://youtu.be/G5InRCGGR2c

“Montreal Main is an extraordinary film. Naturalistic in appearance, it has the air of making itself up as it goes along. Yet every image in the film and every element of its style possess the resonance of metaphor. Everything is what it is and yet, like the classic NFB documentaries of the 1950s, suggests other things.”

Take One -Montreal Main: uncertain identities ( source )

Official site of Montreal Main

The film “Montreal Main” celebrated its 31st birthday in Montreal – photo reportage

Apology to Josh Fleischman

Continuing the series of short films reviews at theskykid.com – the 6th title in it is an American film directed by Danny Goldfield called “Apology to Josh Fleischman”. The film is 8 minutes and during them there is only one spoken phrase related to its title. Like most short films I have seen the director relied strongly on visuals and the music score – as well as the acting talent of the actors to convey his message. Sometimes as is the case with “Apology to Josh Fleiscman ” the message of the story is challenging to discover. That is why I would first quote the films tag line taken from its IMDB page :

” A boy believes that anything that ever goes wrong must be all is his fault – it usually is.”

I could not relate the scenes I saw with that tag-line. To me the film was about a boy who hangs out at the school ground , throws a rock – which accidentally brakes the palm of the school bully. This creates an awkward situation to our hero – who thinks out a way to express his apology without reveling too much so he could avoid any possible revenge.

Overall I think that the young protagonist did a good job in portraying his confusion caused by the result of his actions. The camera work was decent and the director used slow motion throughout the film to emphasize on the world surrounding the protagonist.

If you have seen this short film , do not hesitate to let me know what did you make out of the story portrayed in it.

The film is included in the DVD titled ” Sandman and other shorts ” available at CVMC.

The Little Traitor (2007)

“My enemy was much more friend of mine, than my friends”

The Little Traitor is a coming of age film from Israel that is based on the novel Panther in the Basement by Amos Oz . Before seeing it I only knew of Ido Port (who plays the boy in the film) because a friend of mine recommended his acting in the film. For some reason the film did not get the publicity it deserves and this could be because of some of the sensitive issues it touches. Even if the action in it takes places back in 1947 (right before Israel become a state), in my reviews I try to avoid politics even if I have formed an opinion on the Middle Eastern conflicts) .

The film focuses on the relationship between a British soldier (Alfred Molina) and a young Jewish boy (Ido Port). Their friendship is not looked upon as good. At the time, many Jewish people thought of the British armed forces as occupiers and the British suspected the Jews of being terrorists. The Jewish boy, Proffy Liebowitz, is a sensible young boy who recently discovered an interest in girls and the friendship of someone who is interested in what he has to say, Sgt. Dunlop. The British soldier treats the boy as an equal. They discuss various topics – from the Jewish culture and their holy books to Western political ideology. Proffy’s friends (the ones with whom he plotted plans against the British) follow him and, seeing him talking with the “enemy”, decide to report him as a traitor. He is even sent to trail despite his young age. The film portrays the adolescent view of the possibilities and pitfalls of befriending the enemy (if there is an enemy) . You can get more insights of the movie’s plot by watching its trailer below:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qw0DXRvI-js

“It is both a coming of age story of young Proffy, exploring his interest in girls; bonding with male role models; as well as a semi-documentary with genuine footage of historic events at the time, when Israel was declared an independent state in 1948”( Associated content )

The Little Traitor fits the drama genre and even though I was not impressed by its cinematography, soundtrack or acting – its story made it fun to watch. It’s a charming film – and if you have a chance to see it, you won’t be disappointed.

Baklava

I have been always blaming the movies produced in the US for their lack of realism . And on the contrary I have been praising European production for their depiction of events and people as they are. A recent chat with a friend of Skype – made me to rethink my stance of liberality in the European cinema after fining out about a coming of age film called Baklava. I did my own research – and was amazed by the things I found . The film was produced in Bulgaria and among other thing shows the reality there – the corrupt politics related to the mafia , the bought Medias ( both TV and newspapers ) , the horrible conditions in a Bulgarian home for children. Because of those things the film was banned in the country it was produced at – the politics of the country paid off the media and managed to forbid the release in the film on their territory . However Baklava was showed on several festivals in US, UK and Netherlands and received raving reviews from the audience – it is currently called ” The Most Wanted Bulgarian film ” and is gaining popularity day by day .

I haven`t seen the film – which is why I am going to quote its plot summary published at IMDB:

“A country – in the heart of the Peninsula. Two brothers, separated by the timelessness of the Transition. A collage of an end neighborhood with a slew of funny characters, child’s fantasies and dark dreams – a quest through the intimate secrets of Bulgaria. Djore is 26, dresses in black, listens to drum & bass and does graffiti. Kotze is 9, wears a silver chain, steals, fights and loves pop-folk. In spite of their differences, the brothers hit the road in search of a buried treasure, willed to them by their grandmother. On the way they will encounter unbelievable adventures, unexpected characters and undiscovered truths”

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9ShUQNvwwA

The film`s page at IMDB

An artcile about the film at Sofia Echo

Oscar Pinta

Continuing the review of short movies I selected an Australian one as the 5th to be featured at theskykid.com. The name of the film is Oscar Pinta and it was directed by Joanna Quintanilla – who at the time was a University student. What initially attracted me to the film was its weird summary :

“A young boy takes a photograph of a stranger and is slowly consumed by the man’s soul.”

I am fond of street photography myself and having read the above description my impatience to see the film was quite understandable. Thankfully I found it posted on YouTube. I saw it and ended up liking it. It is a 5 minutes short done quite professionally, especially in terms of cinematography. The camera work and the visuals used in the film create a unique atmosphere in the film which even some full-featured films failed to achieve. I would also like to mention Michael Kotaridis who played the boy in the film as after seeing the film I have quite a high opinion of his acting talent. The film has almost half a million views on youtube and most of the comments there indicate that people are quite fond of it – and the best way to know your opinion about Oscar Pinta is to leave me a comment after seeing it.

Last Stand (2003)

” The history written in books and newspapers isn`t always the history written in the hearts of those who lived it “

Last stand is an American short movie which admittingly surprised me with the quality of its production. The film tells the touching story of the unlikely friendship between a wounded cavalry soldier and a young Lakota boy . Last stand is a visually rich film – the dialogue is minimum and instead Gabe Torres ( the film`s director ) relied heavily on the skills of the the two leading actors Jason London and Joseph Saul. Their facial expressions are nothing short of example of a brilliant acting. An excellent camerawork and attention to details ( such as the costumes and the history events concerned ) add an extra value to this short film.

Last Stand was a special movie to me. Partly because I studied US history in the US – but at the same time my teacher was honest enough to state that what is in the textbook has been changed several times throughout the years and what he was teaching was different than what we learned as a student himself. Sadly the history has the tendency to repeat itself – I like most boys have always been found of the native Americans – and think that the world would have been a better place shall they were allowed to live by their own rules , following their own traditions. Instead someone decides that his way of leaving in the correct one , that his nation is the bearer of civilization and every one else could be called “savage” and treated as such.

I recommend highly the short film Last Stand. If you get a chance to see this, don’t miss out !

2 Minutter/ 2 Minutes

Can you hold your breath ?

I selected a more “uplifting title” as a 3rd entry in the short movies review series at theskykid.com. The name of the film is “2 minutes ” and it relies stringy on its cinematography and excellent musical shore. There is no spoken dialogue – but the director ( Jacob Tschernia) decided to use a lot of close up camera shots and attention focusing techniques .

On first watch the film`s plot seems rather simple – a boy is trying to brake his own record , holding his breath under the water in a white bathtub. But it doesn`t takes long for the viewer to sense that something more is going on…for example although in the film we see another boy ( both boys are played by Mark Emil Schwarz- just like Feddie Highmore did 2 roles in Spiderweek chronicles ) – its existance is rather doubtful – so one may think if that`s two separate characters he is seeing or one is a projection of the other .

At the end of my short review of the short film 2 Minutes I would like to quote its official description on the DFI website:

“The best way to find out who you are is to test your own limits – to do the utmost of your ability.”

Room for troughts – now you have it – and if you see the film don`t forget to leave me comments with your impressions from it.

2 Minutter is distributed by the Danish film institute and you can see its official page on their web site .

Killing the spot

Killing the spot is the second short movie in the series of movie reviews planned to appear at my blog. Just like El Balancín de Iván the film I choosed came from Spain . Killing the spot is based on the comic counterpart Fernando de Felipe, in the album “Utopia & Marketing”. Its first scene have the typical gore horror feeling which prepares your senses to what you are about to see in the next minutes .

Interview behind the prison bars and flashbacks are the methods of filming in the film. I did not like it – it was too dark for my taste – and the only reason for it to me mentioned at theskykid.com is that it illustrates how a unhealthy upbringing could affect the physiological development of a young person- to such extremes that a monster could be born.

Pork cans. Dolls. Bowling. And plastic. Everything is a nonsense, but at the same time are the elements linked to the mind of the killer, Bill. His psychiatrist, Dr. Basil tries to analyse these elements to understand the reasons that led to the killings .

The film is available at youtube , but the scenes in it are shocking and not reccomendable for anyone younger than 12 . That is why I decided not to embed the film in my blog -and if you are interested – consider yourself as warned and search for them. Of course any comments you may have on the short film or my take on it are welcomed .

El Balancín de Iván(2002)

This is the first of the series of short movies I am going to review at theskykid.com. The films I have in mind are around 30 – which guarantees that you will have something to look for in the near future .

I picked the Spanish drama ” El Balancín de Iván ” as a first film to review. What immediately got me in it was the cinematography and the excellent use of lighting and shadow effects .

The atmosphere in the film felt nostalgic and doomed and the director succeeded to translate the emotions of his characters to the viewers . The film concentrates on the life of a family in Argentina during the dictatorship in that country.

A woman walking on deserted streets recalls her own childhood- her parents and the games she used to play with her little brother. The news on the TV and the newspapers articles are the means by which the recent political development spread. The father is absent , and while the children are playing – their model is looking worryingly trough the window. In the next few scenes we observe the most important scenes in the film – trough which the director illustrates the attempts of the parents to keep their children away from worries and troughts about a possible disaster.

This has also been portrayed in other films and one could probably wonder if that is the best way to act – when you have children and there is a danger around – would you try to pretend that the life goes normal or would you let them know what worries you ? There might be various answer to that question and may be El Balancín de Iván would shape your way of thinking in favour of one of them.

The film autobiographical , set on real events and quite intense – I think that you would end up enjoying its 20 minutes . The film was directed by Exodus Productions and received numerous awards at festivals and competitions all over the world .

One advice before you see the film :

Pay attention to the language, mostly to the advice given from Ivan’s father before jumping on the balance beam…

“No hay más miedo que el que se siente cuando ya no sientes ná”

Technical Data:
Director: Darío Stegmayer Director
Actores: Juan Diego Botto Actors
María Botto
Ernesto Alterio
Malena Alterio
Year:
2003
Country:
Spain

http://youtu.be/cwH8U2yEPxA

Boys Air Choir

It had been a while since I wrote a music related post – and yet music has a special place in my life – especially songs as magical and angelic as the ones of the Boys Air Choir. The choir itself was formed in a rather non traditional way back in 1996 . A careful selection process was launched amongst the most popular UK Cathedral and College choirs – seven vocalists were selected to be members of Boys Air Choir. In 2007 they released their first album “Requiem ” – which gained good popularity and fame especially in Japan where the Choir seemingly had a large following . It has always been interesting to me how the people in Japan really seem to appreciate treble and classical music – more than any other nation – judging from my own observations . No wonder then why Boys Air Choir as well as many other well known choirs such as Vienna Boys Choir and Libera loved touring in Japan.

Connor Burrowes was the lead soloist in the choir. He is often referred as to the best treble soloist in recording history. Because of his unique vocal talents – a lot of the music of Boys Air Choir seems focused on his performances – which some people find annoyng – but I found rather intriguing. It all comes down to personal taste – yes some of the magic of the choir music is the blending of voices – but I have always had an affinity to solo performances and they were always the favorite parts of the concerts I have attended in person – that is why I am rather found of the way the music of Boys Air Choir is arranged .

I would like to quote Michael Grainge who in his review of ” Requiem ” – used a statement written on the fold out of the album :

“”Like crystal, shining in the sun, like tears falling from your eyes – the voice of this boy will make you believe that life is forever”

I think that the statement is a very well written description of the magic brought by the treble music performers . Again in Amazon.com , I found another interesting mentioning in the review of Michael McShurley – he states that the musical concept of Boys Air Choir is similar to the one if Libera : ” sacred works are given a slightly non-standard setting, but still quite acceptable to this classical listener who loves sacred music while at the same time being accessible to non-classical listeners. ” There are different views on the rightfulness of that approach – some argue that the classic music should be permormed in the way it was writen / intended – yet I would rather support the oposite view . Now you won`t be surprised why ” Vienna Boys Choir Goes Pop ” is my favorite album of Vienna Boys Choir – even if I know that many people would say that as it clearly departs from the classical tradition – it should not even be considered treble ….to each his own.

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TheSKyKid.com