Cup Fever (1965)

The Children’s Film Foundation (CFF) made scores of kids films between the 1940s and 80s. They were low budget affairs typically about plucky kids taking on baddie grownups and invariably winning in the end.

A part of the Rank Organisation, the CFF gained a cult following among many parents as well as the kids who flocked to see the often pretty dire productions at Saturday cinema matinées in the UK. During their heyday in the 60s and 70s, it was common for A-List actors to make cameo appearances in these films (for which they were paid standard Equity rates) just for the fun of it.

With a star-studded cast and a guest-list as unlikely as it was lavish, Cup Fever was a major undertaking for the CFF. The result was a slick production that, though still weighing in at sixty minutes for the kids’ matinée B-movie slot, was clearly aiming for higher goals.

Notably, it moved out of the CFF’s southern home-counties comfort zone to be filmed on location in Manchester and Salford. This step made the London drama-school accents of many of the principal kids almost forgivable. Memorably sassy performances from young Susan George, Olivia Hussey and Amanda Humby were woven in to appeal to the girls in the audience and the finished product still makes great family entertainment.

Following the misfortunes of talented youth team Barton United, recently evicted from their ground, struggling manfully-and-girlfully to fulfill their potential, there is little cute about this story; it’s gritty northern stuff, more Byker Grove than Grange Hill. Nevertheless, Gary Mason‘s portrayal of Fatso, the podgy kid coach, will touch many hearts.

Clip from Cup Fever

Guest cameos include the then Manchester United manager Matt (later Sir Matt) Busby and the entire 1965 United squad, several of whom played a pivotal role in England’s World Cup victory the following year and went on to win Man U the European cup. This makes it worth a look for any soccer fan in a historical context, but the strong storyline and direction give it universal appeal.

Cup Fever is included in a Region 2 DVD box-set called Saturday Morning Pictures. Used copies are commonly available online.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0059074/combined

Shok (2015)

Sometimes a good film can get ruined by the bias of its screenwriter and director. That’s the case with the 2015 film Shok (Friend). Writer/director, Jamie Donoughue’s film, is a co-production of Albania and the UK. It contains his bias that any Serb = evil. In fact, the whole country of Albania is biased again the Serbs.

But if one is prepared to disregard such blatant propaganda, Shok offers a poignant Coming-of-Age narrative focusing on the friendship between two young Albanian boys, Petrit and Oki (Lum Veseli and Andi Bajgora). Despite growing up in the war-torn region of Kosovo, the boys manage to play, swap sleepovers, and have a normal childhood…until Petrit decides to earn some money by selling rolling paper to the Serbian paramilitary formations.

Petrit’s entrepreneurship places the boys in direct contact with the harsh world of adulthood cruelty, which puts a strain on their innocent souls. A fierce quarrel follows an accident – and it’s not just their friendship that is at stake…

Suppose you’ve seen movies portraying the harsh consequences that war has on children (such as the 2004 masterpiece Innocent Voices or Elem Klimov’s Come and See). In that case, you’ll recognize a lot of common motifs in the narrative that may make this film’s final resolution slightly predictable. Yet, character development has done its job (a remarkable accomplishment for a movie with just 21 minutes of screen time) and, by the end of the film, one can’t help but sense the young protagonists’ distress, fear, and tension.

Aside from the bias, Shok has no other significant flaws. It’s well-acted, well shot, and atmospheric.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4273570/combined

Crazy Love (1987)

With a script influenced (and co-written) by German-American poet and novelist Charles Bukowski, in Crazy Love one would expect a distinctive and peculiar cinematic experience.

The movie opens in a remote village in Belgium, where 12-year-old Harry Voss (Geert Hunaert) enjoys a movie at the local cinema. Wide-eyed and filled with awe, Harry allows the moving pictures to take him to a fairy tale world inhabited by a princess and brave knights fighting for her love.

Harry decides that such magic should exist in the world surrounding him until an older friend makes fun of the romantic fantasies of the little boy. That’s followed by an improvised sex-ed class diluted with explanations of what “everyone is really after”. The “lessons” are followed by practice sessions as the two friends visit a local amusement park with one goal: a first kiss for Harry and maybe something more. But thing’s don’t go as planned…

The second act of the narrative takes us several years into the future, and we see Harry, now played by Josse De Pauw, as a high school senior. Life has not treated him well, as his face (and body) is covered with a horrid case of acne. He has discovered the meaning behind love, but sharing it is quite another matter. In the third and final act of the film, we see Harry as an adult with a personality shaped by all the experiences and misfortunes of his life.

The story’s three-act structure helps define this Coming-of-Age narrative. Act 1, focusing on Harry as a boy (about 30 minutes long), is undoubtedly the part of the film that will appeal most to fans of the Coming-of-Age genre, thanks to the poignant idealistic point of view of the young Harry.

Geert Hunaert’s performance is top-notch. His facial expressions, from cheerfulness to shyness, curiosity, and awe, make his character true to life, simpatico, and easy to associate with.

That’s probably why the events in the second and third acts come across as shocking. On a personal level, I was able to associate with his older self, having chased love — aided by poems and ideals — only to realize that in real life, princesses often choose the brute rather than the knight.

The film’s cinematography impresses with its attention to detail and skillful use of tracking shots and light, used for emphasizing a setting or an emotion. The mood differs in the three acts of the narrative – and the photography morphs to follow. The music accompaniment, both diegetic and non-diegetic, features live performances that not only sound great, but also reflect on and enhance the events on screen.

I am most inclined to recommend the first act of the film, having thoughtfully enjoyed it. Yet I must admit that I was drawn by the entire story and watched the film until the very end despite the shocking nature of some scenes.

Crazy Love is among the most disturbing films I have seen but, at the same time, its narrative — soaked in darkness and tragic beauty — makes it a worthwhile cinematic experience. Recommended!

Trailer

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0092794/combined

The Kissing Place (1990)

Are they his real parents?

Tony Wharmby‘s 1990 TV film The Kissing Place is an intriguing little film about Billy (Nathaniel Moreau), a little boy who discovers a chilling secret about his “parents”. Nightmares and flashbacks lead Billy to believe that the people who he calls Mom and Dad may not be his real parents.

This raises a lot of questions (Could he be adopted, or…kidnapped?) and further confuses the preteen boy.

When Billy discovers the truth, he makes a daring escape and sets off on a trip filled with perils.

…

Nathaniel Moreau delivers a memorable performance in The Kissing Place

Nathaniel Moreau delivers a good performance in the role of Billy. His character is not very convincing at first, but as the story develops his portrayal of an innocent youth in peril improves so much so that you will genuinely start caring and supporting him. Although The Kissing Place’s narrative is not necessarily a character based one – it’s Tommy’s Rite-of-Passage experiences (his encounters with people & the choices he makes – both smart moves and mistakes) that hold the story together.

The production values of The Kissing Place do not impress. Some actors deliver their lines badly (yet others do great), not all emotions ring true, the props hint of a somewhat low budget and the camerawork is nothing to write home about.

Yet the longer you watch, the more invested in Billy’s story you’ll become. There is enough suspense, “Ah Hah!” moments and surprising plot twists to capture your attention and hold it to the end. It’s true that you’d better not expect a poignant true-to-life story, but if entertainment is what you’re after, The Kissing Place delivers.

If anything in the narrative is predictable it’s the ending: crowd-pleasingly typical for TV films. Actually, that’s the case for most films anyway (with the exception of a few independent productions whose screenwriters and directors are more daring). At any rate, for me, it didn’t ruin the overall action packed thriller experience.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0099944/combined

Night Hair Child (AKA What the Peeper Saw) (1972)

Marcus: Father’s 42. Mother was 35 when she died.

Elise: Yes, I know.

Marcus: When I’m 25, you’ll be 35.

Night Hair Child (released in North America as What the Peeper Saw) is an iconic piece of 1970s thriller-cum-horror. Commercially unavailable for many years, I saw a bootleg copy when I was at university a decade ago and have never forgotten the cleverly written screenplay and its daring themes, culminating in one of the most shocking final twists of its era.

The story could have been written for my tastes: psychological horror about intergenerational relationships with a strong Coming-of-Age theme. It has the added bonus of starring Mark Lester. This was the last in a rapid succession of Lester films made in 1971 in an obvious quest to fully exploit his boyish charms before puberty struck. In most of these, poor Mark looks understandably tired and unenthusiastic; but here was a role he clearly enjoyed playing. And what young teen boy wouldn’t have? After all, he got to grope Britt Ekland!

Twelve-year-old Marcus’s mother died, it’s said, from an undisclosed heart condition two years before. His father recently married Elise (Ekland), a beautiful woman 20 years his junior. She and Marcus meet when he returns home from boarding school for the first time. It’s clear from the outset that the boy finds her attractive, and his response is, to say the least, precocious.

When his father returns from a business trip, the tension mounts with jealous feelings all around. As Elise learns more about father and son, she begins to suspect that Marcus’s mother’s death may not have been all it seemed…

The storyline makes apparent references to Henry James’s The Turn of the Screw and develops similar themes: a boy’s emerging awareness of life and the reaction (hysteria?) of a young woman responsible for him. However, it does so in an overt manner, which James could not have gotten away with in his day. It also turns on the same tension of leaving us unsure who is manipulating whom and whether what we are seeing is reality or Marcus’s (or Elise’s) fantasies. But even those who spot the parallels in this and James’s classic will be unprepared for the climax, which jumps you from behind in an unforgettable way.

Mark Lester’s performance in this one is fittingly sinister yet charming. One can sense that he knew this part was his swansong as the cute kid and his relief is almost tangible. Britt Ekland makes a strong showing too in what turns out to be a complex role.

The production lacks finesse even by the standards of its time. It looks like a TV movie with continuity errors and has a clichéd soundtrack to match. But that very lack of pretension is part of its appeal to me.

Video review

Child sexuality and intergenerational affection have emerged as new taboos since 1971, with some justifiable cause. (The irony here is there are only ten years between Elise and Marcus; the real intergenerational relationship is Elise’s with his father.) Notwithstanding mild nudity, there is nothing indecent about Night Hair Child, but the version commonly available as What the Peeper Saw on Region 1 DVD has been significantly edited.

Some may feel that the original went too far for a modern audience and will prefer the censored version. Others may find that it’s worth the effort and extra cost of seeking it out uncut.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0067489/combined

Night Hair Child (AKA What the Peeper Saw) (1972)

Summary

A film with a cleverly written screenplay, daring themes, and an ending that possesses one of the most shocking final twists of its era.

strong coming-of-age theme

starring Mark Lester

continuity errors

a clichéd soundtrack

3.7

OUR RATING

Regional Free

DVD

Introducing Singer/Songwriter Henno William

Having just finished researching Henno William from Pretoria, South Africa, I’m convinced he is a young singer/songwriter with the ability to make a huge impression on the world music scene soon.

Emphasize “songwriter”!

Many of the tunes Henno sings are his own creations, and they show the promise of an evolving artist with an ability to bring private emotions onto a public stage! That takes a lot of courage, which he has, along with good piano and keyboard skills.

Henno turned 13 on March 28th of this year (2016), the same day he released his debut single Beauty Queen. It’s a dreamy bittersweet ballad about a special girl, which reveals a talent for composing harmonic pop songs; the kind I have rarely heard from young artists his age.

“Beauty Queen” Original Single

There is an honesty and sincerity about Henno that is likable.

Searching for more, I found Gone Without a Trace and Sad Rainy Day, both excellent songs. In Sad Rainy Day there is a beautiful sensitivity, a quiet acceptance of someone lost. The careful keyboard work varies in volume to accent the emotion. Stylistic traces of songs by Elton John, Billy Joel or Barry Manilow in this.

So! Have you heard The Golden Buzzer? Henno has!

It’s a device a judge (in South Africa’s Got Talent) can use only once to send a contestant directly through to the semi-final. In last year’s (2015) competition Shado Twala used it and golden confetti rained down on William, who sang a spiced-up version of Let it Be.

Interviewed before going on stage, Henno admitted he was “afraid” but ready to show his stuff. There’s that honesty I like! But in a different interview, he stated “I’m never nervous– I’m always excited to go on stage” Already his showmanship shines through sparkling eyes, his expressions changing as he performs. Some young artists don’t act their songs to their audience. Emotionless they stand on stage like wax puppets. Not this boy! You can see him living out his lyrics!

Two years of pro lessons have embellished a voice that is clear and confident, tender or raunchy as the song demands. Henno has also written a blues song You You-You which he performs with style.

Even though his social media channels do not yet have many songs, the ones up are worth hearing. A few do not work for me, like Who’s Loving You (cover) where the acoustic is off somehow (the mime with hat is cool though).

When asked about role models Henno answered Elton John, Freddie Mercury–older rockers. When asked about Bieber he waivered…not his style of music was the answer.

It will be very interesting to follow this artist in the coming months and years. I anticipate some fine new songs and a rapid rise in popularity.

Best wishes,

rjmendera

This is England (2006)

I grew up in northern England in the nineties. We lived in a trendy-lefty suburban village where race was not an issue (largely by virtue of the population being middle-class and near-exclusively white). However, our utopia bordered Greater Manchester, where things, as I knew, were different. Our neighboring borough of Oldham had some British National Party councillors in local government and its streets were the scene of several race riots during my childhood.

Around the turn of the millennium I started at a culturally diverse secondary school. Its catchment area included one of the most socially deprived housing estates in England, whose residents were predominantly black. On the surface there was harmony: white kids even thought it cool to toke da weed and speak like recent immingrants fram Jameeka, man. But there was real tension beneath this, which I came to understand was as much about financial inequality as it was about color of skin. And it didn’t take me long to work out that some of the biggest bigots were themselves victims of social exclusion. It was, I’m sure, this experience that led me to become a political animal in my early teens, with a near-fanatical passion for social justice and equal opportunities.

a moving coming-of-age drama

I mention this to explain why, when I first saw This is England in my late teens, I had low expectations. I couldn’t see how a film about racist skinheads could be anything more than a painfully cliché-ridden if well-intentioned piece of social commentary. I wasn’t expecting one of the best British films of the millennium to date. For not only is this an insightful portrayal of the insidious roots of prejudice, it’s also a moving Coming-of-Age drama seen through the eyes of a 12-year-old boy.

That boy is Shaun, played in an incredible screen début by Thomas Turgoose. A child of the Thatcher era, when social injustice may well have been worse than it was during my childhood, he lives with his widowed mother who has struggled to provide for him since his father was killed during the Falklands War.

Despite being a spirited back-fighter, Shaun is relentlessly teased and picked on for his uncool second-hand clothes and goaded into conflict over his father’s death. Walking home from school, downtrodden after a particularly fraught day, he runs into a gang of skinheads whose leader, Woody (Joe Giligun), unexpectedly lends the boy the kindness and sympathy he craves.

Over the course of the summer holidays, Shaun joins the gang who kit him out with new clothes and (to his mother’s disdain) a number 1 head-shave. His self-image and confidence rocket in the company of his new-found friends, who give him genuine care and companionship.

No true skinhead is a racist

“No true skinhead is a racist” is a mantra that I grew up with and there is acknowledgement here of the movement’s roots in Afro-Caribbean music and culture. This is a gang of social outcasts who are mildly delinquent but not bigoted. One of them is black (affectionately nick-named Milky). But things turn sour when a former member, Combo (Stephen Graham), shows up after a stretch in jail. It soon transpires that he is an unapologetic racist with psychopathic tendencies. Combo takes a shine to Shaun, in whom he sees many of his own qualities. When he starts jostling for Woody’s position as gang-leader there is a sharp division within the group and Shaun is cornered into making a painful choice.

This is England turns on the character of Shaun and the role demands a lot from the 12-year-old newcomer. Thomas Turgoose acquits the part with consummate ease; his performance is so natural that this often looks more like a fly-on-the-wall documentary than a drama. All the cast make strong showings, though – most notably Stephen Graham, who manages to make even his revolting character slightly likable.

Indeed, Writer/Director Shane Meadows‘ refusal to couch his characters as goodies and baddies is the story’s greatest strength for me. They’re all flawed people, some very flawed, but aren’t we all? He had an easy task in making Shaun a character with whom we can identify but it takes creative genius to elicit sympathy for a crazed thug like Combo.

Trailer

To quote the DVD cover, This is England “contains extreme racist violence and language,” and consequently has an 18 certificate in the UK. I find that a shame. This is certainly not comfortable family viewing; there is a brooding menace underlying the story and the final bloody show-down is one of the few predictable aspects of it. But in terms of actual violence, I’ve seen worse in films let off with a 15 rating. The issue here is the racist language and overtones, but these exist within the context of the film’s being a wholesale condemnation of mindless bigotry. Meadows doesn’t try to force his message on us – this is a “show” rather than “tell” movie – but its relevance to today’s teenagers is obvious. We are living in times of paranoia over immigration and suspicion towards our Asian communities. Speaking as a teacher, if I had my way this film would be a compulsory part of the high school curriculum.

British cinema at its best

This is England is British cinema at its best: gritty realism, biting observation and the revelation of uncomfortable truths. It has moments of humor and tenderness too. It’s not always easy to watch but the rewards are well worth the effort.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0480025/combined

This is England (2006)

In short

British cinema at its best. Flawless acting, superb characterization and enduring social relevance.

4.8

OUR REVIEW

Where to buy

AMAZON

Fragile (2014)

Discovering who one really is and embracing oneself can be a daunting task at any age. Portraying the process in cinema also presents its challenges as it requires a storytelling approach that allows the inner intimate world of a person to shine through.

The Australian Writer/Director Juliet Juliana Mango attempted to do just that in her 2014 short film titled Fragile. The protagonist of the film is eight-year-old Alex (Alex Bryans) who hides that he likes to play with dolls and put on make-up, gets bullied in school (implied by the bruises on his face) and faces mistreatment at home, where his dad is on a mission to shape him into a real macho boy.

While Fragile lives up to its title, the story felt somehow underdeveloped (as did the characters). This is slightly offset by the acting job of Alex Bryans, who does a good job in portraying a transgender kid. If only the script was better written, this short film could have been as poignant as My Life in Pink (original title: Ma vie en rose). Instead, Fragile was unsatisfying as the message that the film ought to emit to its audience is somehow vague (or may not even be detectable by some viewers).

Fragile does not exactly shine cinematographically or in production design as the fixed camera approach, combined with an amateurish composition, results in a lot of “dead spaces” (places in the frame where nothing really is going on). The cliché scenes are also present – i.e. the kid on the bed looking scared hugging his knees – so that at the end the film making mistakes do make themselves obvious.

But watching a film like Fragile will make you better appreciate well produced films. Fragile‘s goals of inspiring hope, understanding and tolerance are still present, which is why the film finds its place on theskykid.com.

And last, but not least, transgender kids do exist in the real world (check out Benjamin Panciera‘s channel on YouTube) and films like Fragile could ensure that such kids receive more understanding and appreciation.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4667754/

The Confirmation (2016)

Have you thought about your sins?

Written and directed by Bob Nelson, The Confirmation is a new Canadian film focusing on the bonding between eight-year-old Anthony (Jaeden Lieberher) and his father, Walt (Clive Owen). The narrative features a wide range of adventures, misfortunes and life lessons.

The movie opens with a scene in which Anthony’s mother (Maria Bello) quite unwillingly leaves her son in the care of her ex—Walt—only after a stern warning that Walt should not drink and must make sure that Anthony stays clean (out of trouble at least) for his upcoming confirmation (the rite at which a baptized person affirms Christian belief and is admitted as a full member of the Church).

Jaeden Lieberher as Anthony in The Confirmation (2016)

The weekend starts well enough but soon becomes a disaster when Walt’s valuable wood crafting tools are stolen from his pick-up truck. Recovering them is crucial as Walt is a freelancer often out of work. So he takes his son on a search that puts them in hazardous situations among an array of eccentric people who may or may not know who stole the tools.

Admittedly, I failed to associate with or sincerely care for the characters on an emotional level, which doesn’t mean that they were not well developed. On the contrary, by the end of the film, I felt like I really knew them—especially Walt (undoubtedly thanks to Clive Owen’s natural acting performance).

Jaeden Lieberher is a child actor with a unique appearance which, combined with his pairing with talented and experienced actors like Bill Murray in St. Vincent and Clive Owen in The Confirmation, has allowed him to learn tricks of the trade that enhance the characters he portrays in the process. That’s so much the case that the roles he’s chosen for almost appear that he’s being typecast. In all of his screen appearances, his posture, mannerisms and self-assured composure strongly surface, which some might find irritating (me too – occasionally), but also evoke an instant recognition of the actor and the will of his characters.

Most of the story is told from Anthony’s perspective, which shapes The Confirmation into a Rite-of-Passage movie. Its narrative feels almost bittersweet at times, as while the laughs of St. Vincent are not present (or perhaps whatever humour is present is just of a different kind), the newly acquired understanding of life was very evident for the young protagonist of the film, for his dad and, last but not least, the audience. The acquisition of that wisdom is a central theme in any coming-of-age narrative, and Bob Nelson skillfully integrates this theme into his film.

The Confirmation Official Trailer

Nelson seems to have found inspiration in an American Western television program called The Rifleman (fragments from it are seen playing on a TV set at a scene set at Walt`s apartment) – especially in the characters (the young Mark absorbing the peculiarities of life while accompanying his father) and the basic idea that everyone deserves a second chance – including Walt who is a recovering alcoholic.

The Confirmation has the unmistakable feel of an independent Canadian production, slightly art-house – serious and with a narrative focusing on real-life issues. This makes it somewhat unsuitable for people used to manipulative dramas or swift actions. Yet it does not bore and results in a rewarding cinematic experience for anyone who invests his/her time in seeing it.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4210080/

The Confirmation (2016)

In short

The Confirmation has the unmistakable feel of an independent Canadian production, slightly art-house - serious and with a narrative focusing on real-life issues.

4

OUR RATING

Where to watch

On Demand

AMAZON DVD

The Children of Dynmouth (BBC Screen Two, 1987)

Cover of the novel The Children of Dynmouth

The souls of the adult people have shrivelled up. Last year’s rhubarb’s walking the street, Sir.
Timothy Gedge

There seems to have been a golden era of British Television drama in the decade before I was born. I guess it’s swingeing budget cuts that have put an end to that. These days we’re lucky to get more than one outstanding TV movie a year, but back in the 80s the BBC was churning them out on a weekly basis.

Screen Two was a long-running series of such films. All the ones that I’ve seen were good, many excellent and a few simply stunning. William Trevor‘s screenplay adaptation of his Whitbread Award-winning novel The Children of Dynmouth stands proud in the last category.

Though not a household name, Trevor, who died at the age of 88 last November, was a distinguished Anglo-Irish author, said to have been a candidate for the Nobel Prize for Literature. I’ve been a fan of his work since I was a kid and it was a copy of The Children of Dynmouth, which I chanced upon while browsing through my parents’ paperback collection, that introduced me to him.

When I was told that a dramatized version of the novel was available on You Tube, I was skeptical. Trevor’s writing has a distinctive and quite beautiful narrative voice, which inevitably seems to get lost in a screen adaptation. But I was wrong. This may just be the first film made since The Wizard of Oz that’s actually better than the book on which it’s based.

OK, maybe that’s over-hyping what is, after all, a TV movie made on a TV budget. Its creative genes are nevertheless strong: Trevor himself wrote the screenplay; it was directed by the celebrated veteran Peter Hammond (BAFTA Award-winner, noted for such British TV classics as The Avengers, Tales of The Unexpected and Inspector Morse.) The cast features several well-respected names including John Bird, Gary Raymond and a cameo by playwright Peter Jones. Two of the newcomers, Eleanor Tremain and Graham McGrath, went on to have successful acting careers as adults and their promising débuts are documented here. But it was undoubtedly Simon Fox, in his one and only acting role, who stole the show as the main character: 15 year-old Timothy Gedge.

Timothy is a deprived, neglected teenager who spends his days wandering around his small home town spying on people through a pair of binoculars. Few care about him and those who do, like the elderly childless couple the Abigails, live to regret it. As Mrs Abigail herself puts it, “He eats his way into people’s lives – destroys people because he’s been destroyed himself.”

But Timothy can make people laugh – and even though they may often be laughing “at” rather than “with” him, it’s a gift nonetheless. He devises a macabre black comedy sketch for a local spot the talent competition but needs some hard-to-find props. The props are all out there, but he needs to persuade some hostile residents of the town to let him have them, and therein lies the story.

This is a tale of a hapless boy’s blackmail, both literal and emotional, and of half-truths which, when combined with blackmail, can be more insidious than truth or lies alone. Though it has its comic moments, most notably Timothy’s climactic performance in the competition, it’s pretty dark stuff.

If it can be classed as a Coming-of-Age story, then it is one with a twist. For it’s not Timothy who comes of age here: he’s a catalyst who shows no aptitude for learning from experience. His two youngest victims (Tremain and McGrath) learn a few of life’s lessons the hard way at Timothy’s hands, but it’s really middle-aged Mrs Abigail who sees the light in the end during a wonderful showdown with the somewhat inadequate parish priest.

Although he had no prior acting experience, Simon Fox (whose career forked to work behind the camera) was perfectly cast as Timothy. His portrayal of the vulnerable yet manipulative, malicious youngster is creepily realistic and haunted me for days after I watched it. He was, in fact, a young-looking 17 at the time but the maturity with which he handled the role is still remarkable.

Peter Hammond’s direction, with its characteristic use of reflection and shots through opaque screens, suits the story’s themes well. The cinematography here is immaculate and stops short of letting Hammond’s potentially ostentatious techniques spoil the show.

The original score by Paul Lewis, reminiscent at times of Saint-Saëns’ Danse Macabre, fits the film’s mood to a tee and kept me glued to final credits till the end.

Only a handful of the Screen Two productions have been released by the BBC on DVD and (unforgivably, in my view) The Children of Dynmouth is not among them. Indeed, this film has not been aired since its original screening in 1987. Fortunately, a reasonable print of it is up on You Tube, largely thanks to Simon Fox, who supplied the poster with his personal copy of it.

Incidentally, among the Screen Two productions that have been released on DVD is Michael Palin‘s whimsical Coming-of-Age comedy East of Ipswich, which also comes with my recommendation.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1203843/combined

Lokas (2008)

I hadn’t laughed so hard in a long time. Lokas is a wonderful comedy from Chile directed by one of the country’s greatest directors: Gonzalo Justiniano. The plot follows the adventures of Charly, a middle-aged man who lives with his son Pedro (Raimundo Bastidas) in Mexico City. Unfortunately, he gets in trouble and is sent to serve a short sentence in jail. When he gets out, he is unable to find a job and has no other choice but to take his son and return to Chile where his father lives. The last time he saw his father was some 30 years before. Much to his surprise, he finds out that his father is gay and lives with another person. That, in itself, is quite stressful for Charly who stands as a homophobe.

The screenplay was written by Rodrigo Bastidas, who stars in the film himself in the role of Charley. He takes his son Raimundo along and thanks to that the viewer can enjoy the first-class acting of young Raimundo in the role of Pedro.

In an interview, Rodrigo shared some insight into why he decided to write the script:

“Half a year ago, Raimundo asked me: “Hey Dad, will I be gay?” I said “Look, I think not, your behavior, you say you like girls, you’re in love with this here, that there, so from that point of view, no.” Afterward, those concerns of sexual identity became part of the movie Lokas.

Some movie critic agencies rated the film “Suitable for persons over 14”, which surprised its creators. They found that decision to be discriminatory and declared that it was absurd that the entire film was censored in this way. The director Gonzalo Justiniano said:

“We are surprised by the ratification of age, because the theme of the film today should not be a taboo for children.”

Raimundo Bastidas as Pedro in Lokas (2008)

Rodrigo Bastidas also commented that this movie is for all audiences. “One of its main protagonists, and the theme of the film, is a child of 11 years, who accepted his grandfather being gay naturally, without discriminating. I think it’s a film for over 10 years … if one must put a number to it. I find it very educational to go with your child of 10, 11 or 12 years to see a movie like this.”

In this respect, in my opinion the viewer must consider that the movie rating was wrong as there is not a single scene that I would consider offensive for any age. Rather, it contains well-taught lessons about tolerance and acceptance of people as they are.

The director’s idea was to build a tender and funny film that could also entertain, and I think he successfully met those objectives.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1345492/combined

Dogwood (2014)

Sometimes all we need is bit of kinship and empathy. And sometimes a simple story told in a movie can make us feel good about the world, about the people and encourage in an ingenious way to “pay it forward”. That is the case with the 2014 short film Dogwood written and directed by Christopher Maloney.

The movie tells the story of Charlie (Rick Parker) – a good natured school bus driver who notices the shines of Rowan (Perrin Jack) young boy who has recently been placed in a foster home along Charlie’s bus route. Charlie shows interest in the boy and the two develop a heartwarming friendship which brightens both of their lives.

Dogwood is beautifully shot and combined with its very fitting musical score (by a band called Town Meeting) – it evokes a sense of calmness and harmony. The story is simple enough to follow and most viewers will be able to relate to it (in my case it brought reminiscences of friends from Germany and elsewhere with whom I have formed a bound regardless of the age difference). My only complaint is the somehow unsatisfying and vague ending.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3963288/combined

TheSkyKid.com

TheSKyKid.com

Cup Fever (1965)

Shok (2015)

Crazy Love (1987)

The Kissing Place (1990)

Night Hair Child (AKA What the Peeper Saw) (1972)

Introducing Singer/Songwriter Henno William

This is England (2006)

Fragile (2014)

The Confirmation (2016)

The Children of Dynmouth (BBC Screen Two, 1987)

Lokas (2008)

Dogwood (2014)