“People don’t like children who are different. That’s why it’s best not to go out…”
Do you believe that being different than the people around you will make you less likable? The parents of Freddy Dermul do. Freddy is a 10-year-old Flemish boy who has a problem with his digestive system and his parents try their best to protect their son from any possible embarrassment by explaining how cruel others can be to people different than themselves.
Set in the middle ages, Tomas and the Falcon King (Král sokolu) tells the story of 14-year-old Tomas (Brano Holícek) who lives with his father, grandfather and little sister and who helps his hardworking father take care of the horses belonging to the local ruler, Lord Balador. The boy possesses a unique ability: he is able to understand the language of animals and birds.
“If your fear is greater than your love, I pity you.”
Movies about events that took place in the years foreshadowing the outbreak of World War II, especially those whose plots involve children, are typically emotionally charged with stories no one can remain indifferent to. Throughout the years, I have reviewed several for this site: Venice (2010), The Boy in the Striped Pajamas (2008), Look to the Sky (1993) and The Island on Bird Street (1997).
Reality shows are nothing new. Most of them don’t set admirable goals for themselves and, while some are entertaining, finding real value in them is a tough task. But then I stumbled upon Alec in WILDerland – an online web-series “aimed at teaching kids of all ages how to get outside, explore, and survive.”
So what makes Alec in WILDerland different from other popular reality programs such as Survivor or the Canadian reality show Survive This?
Westerns – once they ruled the cinemas across the world. Nowadays it seems that the only place where one can watch them is on specialized cable channels. That is probably why The Winds of Autumn is the only western Coming-of-Age film that I have seen so far. Beforehand, I must warn you that most of my impressions of the American West and its heroes I owe to the books of the German writer Karl May (and his characters Winnetou and Old Shatterhand), and I generally find the cinematic representations of the genre somewhat less satisfying.
The Winds of Autumn stars Chuck Pierce Jr. in the role of the eleven-year-old Joel Rigney — who lives with his God-fearing parents and older sister in a remote house in the wilderness of Montana. One day a family of outlaw runaways comes to the house looking for help for their hurt comrade. The story takes an unfortunate turn, and young Joel’s family is cruelly murdered despite their hospitality. Because he was visiting a neighbor when the massacre occurred, Joel escapes the fate of his family, but now he is all alone. The council of elders gathers to decide who will take care of the orphaned child, yet all Joel wants to know is: Who is going to go after the men who murdered his family? The elders try to calm the boy by quoting a passage from the bible, reminding him that as Quakers, they see themselves as peaceful people opposed to meeting violence with violence. To which Joel answers with another bible passage:
“And thy eye shall not pity; but life shall go for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.”
Deuteronomy 19:21
The scene in which Joel recites that passage in front of the elders probably contains the most moving moments of the whole film.
Vengeance – but can/should an eleven-year-old boy seek and obtain it? Will he find someone who would be willing to help despite the community’s religious beliefs? Will young Joel’s life end tragically, in a similar fashion to his family’s demise? To find answers to these questions, you will have to see the movie.
The camera is kept rather steady for most of the time – objectively recording the action. This and the less than frequent appearance of the lead character (the young Joel) somehow limits the viewer’s ability to associate with him and his journey. The subtle Coming-of-Age nuance in the film is made all the more symbolic by setting the action in the Autumn season. Autumn embodies an evolution from youth to a more mature part of life and its cold winds, blowing mercilessly, wrench the leaves from the trees — leaving them barren.
Yet the lead character’s age is the only thing that differentiates The Winds of Autumn from the typical western story of a protagonist who has had something wrong done to him in the past and is desperately trying to overcome his fears and bring vengeance to his enemies. Following established genre stereotypes is not necessarily a bad thing in and of itself. But the movie left me wishing that the character of young Joel was better developed.
The Winds of Autumn is an adventurous drama that appeals to young viewers. Despite the film being released more than forty years ago, the story is as engaging as any modern-day adventure.
After the success of Hold On ‘Til the Night, INTERSCOPE RECORDS has released another Greyson Chance album, Truth Be Told Part I – this one with only five songs. It is, of course, difficult to follow-up an album like Hold On ‘Til the Night with its many hit songs. But, in a style truly his own, these new tunes on Truth Be Told – Part I reveal a light and fancy-free Greyson, perfectly at ease in singing about his, or someone’s, infatuations and crushes.
Sometimes I will choose a film to view/review after learning that it has won an award. This does necessarily only include awards given at big fancy ceremonies – but also online only ones such as the Cabin in the Woods/Lionsgate/Vimeo contest. Of course I follow Coming-of-Age themed artworks and a film named after the universal childhood experience The Sleepover, directed by Chris Cullari, grabbed my attention.
Expecting some real chills from the horror themed short film, watching it was a rather disappointing experience. The Cabin in the Woods contest called for spoof horror films – those that mix comedy and horror. The best example would be Keenen Ivory Wayans’s 2000 film Scary Movie. Mixing two genres together can be perceived as creative by some, yet it frequently results in just another time-waster — not capable of pleasing the fans of either genre.
The Sleepover‘s story is centered around an urban myth – a masked serial killer (you guessed right – a slasher film cliché) haunts the town of Derry (a homage to Stephen King). The existence of the masked man is known by everyone in town (the mothers even drive cars with bumper stickers that say M.A.S.K. – Mothers Against Serial Killers), but someone forgot to warn the new kid in time!
Five minutes is not much to get someone intrigued. Yet I have seen short films that manage to — and The Sleepover is definitely not one of them. While the acting of Josh Feldman and Gus Kamp was fair, and the film started in a promising way, the ending ruined all the positive impressions that I had somehow gained from the film. Most of those impressions had come from the dialogue between the kids, which worked well as a tool to shape their characters and personalities. No doubt my personal bias toward films with no real conflict has influenced my opinion on The Sleepover, so I urge you to see it (5 minutes is not that much to waste) and possibly prove me wrong.
Warning: features scenes of violence that may be unsuitable for children under twelve
Ever since the trailer of Disney’s The Odd Life of Timothy Green was released, I have been urged to see the film and review it. With Disney involved one could rightfully expect to witness a modern day fairy tale filled with magic and positive messages. The story is unusual (to say at least): a childless couple receives an unexpected gift when a young boy covered with mud emerges miraculously in their house and claims to be the son they have always wished for.
Are movies capable of expanding the ways in which one sees the world?
Arguably yes – if one gets engaged in the story, entertained and/or inspired by it. One of the sterilized approaches used in cinema, which aims to alter the viewer’s perception, is Magical Realism, which I briefly mentioned when reviewing Jan Jakub Kolski‘s film Venice. The short film I chose today combines the blending of reality and fantasy with surrealistic imagery, which links alternate realms of existence. Released in 2011, The Wholly Family explores the experiences of a young boy who accompanies his parents on a trip to the Italian city of Naples. The movie is directed by Terry Gilliam, who most fans of the Coming-of-Age genre associate with his 1981 film Time Bandits (he also directed Brazil and 12 Monkeys).
Gilliam has a solid fan base. Yet, prior to seeing The Wholly Family, I lacked the motivation to explore his works. But this 17-minute short film, with its complex narrative and highly stylized visuals, made quite an impression on me. The film was shot on location in Naples, and the city atmosphere, spirit and culture feel very authentic – that is if one is able to set apart the alternate universes that, while surreal, feel equally real. The plot offers several surprising twists, some surprisingly shocking (one was shocking enough to make me feel the tension in my stomach – like one feels on a roller-coaster).
While the young lead is a boy (played by Nicolas Connolly), the film brings to mind Alice in Wonderland – with some black humor thrown in. Yet, while I enjoyed the visuals, the score, and the narrative, the acting performances were somewhat disappointing. I would agree with Nickolas Devito’s comment on the film’s IMDB page that the supporting actors outperformed the leads (essentially the roles of the boy and his parents). The Wholly Family has a certain re-watch appeal to it. I found myself appreciating it more during a second viewing.
Another Art-House flick you may be interested in Baby Bump (2015)
The 2012 short film Dawid and Dominik tells the story of a young Polish boy, Dawid, and his quest of finding the perfect woman for his dad. The familiar character types a skilled Eastern European dad in the Western world (the story is set in England where Dawid and Dominik move after the death of Dawid’s mother) and the young boy striving to live up to the image and goals his dad has set for him. But I think these clichéd character types actually enhance the story’s humorous theme.
Barnaby Picton as Dawid and Victor Ptak as Dominic do a great job portraying the various traits of their characters. Yet, while the first-person narrative by Dawid with which the movie opens grabs one attention, the later dialogue between him and his dad feels a bit stilted. Other than that, the picture is of high quality (a minimum amount of camera movements too) and the sound is professionally recorded. The best part of the film, by far, is the hilarious interviews that Dawid conducts with wannabe spouses for his dad.
To summarize: this a fun little short that I believe you will enjoy.
David and Dominic (Full Movie)
The Dutch film Kauwboy was among the three titles considered for the Young Audience Award awarded by the European Film Academy in 2012 ( the other two being Ursula Meier’s Sister and Gust Van den Berghe’s Blue Bird). Kauwboy won the award.
When I first saw it, I was captivated by its unpretentious yet moving way to tell the story
They sing uplifting songs in three-part harmony, dance nonstop onstage, and tease each other good-naturedly. They have tons of fun entertaining fans, while working harder than they ever would have imagined, growing up in small Midwestern towns. Meet Jetset Getset (JSGS), an up-and-coming teen group with an exciting new Nashville-recorded album, Saturday Night, and an accompanying music video for the title track.