Svolochi

Svolochi – a masterpiece of the Russian coming of age cinema

Recently I have noticed that the Russians began to make perfect movies – and Svolochi is for sure one of them. The action is really moving – while the viewer has a choice – to sympathize with the young criminals who seemed doomed to die or look at them from a different perspective. Some of the boys were caught committing crimes such as murders, and they were given a chance between death and training in the military, preparing them for risky missions behind the enemy lines. The movie does not do very well on the realistic scale but seeing it is worth it as it has some quite emotional moments, and the acting was pretty decent. When cinema portrays the realities of war – the use of a child as a point of view, as an image is often utilized to drive home the destruction and desperation. The Russian cinema includes some of the best coming of age stories through which the legacy of war and genocide is explored – films such as Svolochi, Tarkovski`s Ivan`s Childhood (1962) and the 1985 masterpiece of Elem Klimov Come and See draw painfully, but also realistically the image of ” the child as a victim of war – traumatized participant in adult hostilities.” (1) The music in the movie is really nice – I have been listening to the theme song over and over again – you can listen to it at the YouTube video posted below :

“neither love, nor melancholy, nor pity” (Ни любви, ни тоски, ни жалости)

1. Childhood and Cinema- Lebeau, Vicky 1963 page 141-2

Coming of age movies: Growing up on the screen

Mysterious Skin

I have to admit that if I first didn’t stumble on that movie on IMDb, I would not have even known about it. It is almost 2 am and I just took the DVD out of my computer. Have to admit that this is one of the most brilliant films I have ever watched.
The movie shows the growth of two boys – in parallel – they both were abused as kids by their Baseball coach and are striving to find a way to cope with the past. Whatever happened back then seems to be shaping their personality – but in a different way. When I think about it – it is only natural that people are different and, being so, they perceive different events and situations in their own unique way.
Mysterious skin – you may wonder why they picked such a name for that movie, but I am sure that you will have some idea by the time the last credits roll. What would be the life of the boys if things happened differently? That is the question you have to answer for yourself.
There are quite a few sex scenes, which I didn’t like much – probably because the lust was overwhelming, and the money played their role. I guess it is just me, being romantic as usual – but these scenes didn’t seem right. Then again – without them, the movie wouldn’t be the same.
The acting in this movie was terrific; I almost felt like I could sense the actors’ feelings. Watch this movie and remember that what happened in the past may leave its traces for many years to come…

I wrote this review back in 2005, but since yesterday I watched the movie again – decided to post it now

Check out my review of End of the Spear – starring Chase Ellison

Amitiés particulières, Les (This Special Friendship)

“A masterpiece…shocking in the word’s best sense” (L.A. Times).

At first, I did not think that the movie would be interesting. But I soon changed my opinion. The film is in black and white, making it even more appealing than in color. The action takes place in a boarding school located in France. The scenes from the dining room reminded me of the movie for Harry Potter.

The main characters are Georges de Sarre – 16 years old student, and the young Alexandre (age 12), a student at the same school. Their friendship is wonderful – and heart-touching. It sure brought some old memories too.
There is a lot of poetry in this movie – it seems that I am getting hocked to poetry- again! A few years ago, a girl was sending me sonnets of Shakespeare. I even tried to write some poems myself.

I have finished watching the movie, and its ending made me sad and disgusted. Disgust that such people refuse to accept that a true, special friendship can exist and interfere – to hurt everyone but their pity selves. And do I know of such people – because they are not only shown in the movies, you know – lurk amongst us – trying to make the rest believe and think what they do – such people disgust me….

Les amitiés particulières is based on 1943 novel by French writer Roger Peyrefitte.The novel is largely autobiographical. While on the film set, Peyrefitte met the 12-year-old aristocrat Alain-Philippe Malagnac d’Argens de Villèle, who had been cast as a choir boy and was a big fan of the book.

Song for a Raggy Boy (2003)

I watched this movie with tears in my eyes. No other movie up to my writing this review made me feel such pain – almost physical pain — just from watching the story that unfolds on the screen. I must note that this was probably the hardest movie to watch from all I have seen until the present at the risk of repeating myself.

I made a few notes when it started – they were about the interesting characters, the song by Libera I noticed – but now I can not really write about that. Shocking, painful, cruel, realistic to the core – I can go on like this for a long time. The fact that Song for a Raggy Boy is based on a true story contributes to the powerful effect on its viewers.

The acting is excellent as well – so good in fact that I felt like I knew some of the characters in person. The young actors were compelling, and I felt Patrick Delaney (played by Chris Newman) and Liam Mercier (John Travers) were almost like my friends.

But let me tell you a bit more about the movie…

It is set in a reformatory school in Ireland run by the Catholic church. As often happened, the boys sent there didn’t find anything remotely resembling help and support. Instead, they were beaten and abused mentally and physically (some even sexually) by the religious staff there. One of them, Brother John (Iain Glen), the prefect of discipline at the school, is most aptly described by a line with which he tells the new teacher, William Franklin (Aidan Quinn – with a performance that superbly leads the adult cast) about the kind of job he is expected to do:

“The creatures you are going to teach are not to be confused with intelligent human beings.”

Just that line itself was enough for me to imagine the horrible manner in which the boys were treated. The new teacher attempts to change all that and, as the story unfolds, I began to really like him. He was strict but, at the same time, obviously caring for the boys he taught. Brother John becomes his enemy almost from the very beginning. After failing to persuade the institution’s superior to dismiss the new teacher, he directs his anger to the school pupils. You will have to watch the movie to find out how it all ends …

This movie gets 10 out of 10 for me – since it is surely one of the best ones I have ever watched.

Similar movies: Sleepers, Dead Poets Society

Watch the trailer below:

The Reflecting Skin (1990)

The movie did not impress me with its story. The nature scenes and the actions of the young Jeremy Cooper were what did impress me. Actually, from what I saw, I was almost convinced that all characters in the movie except the three boys the movie starts with are crazy or something. As one other reviewer wrote, “In The Reflecting Skin, nobody behaves as a normal person would, and the viewer is left as a patron at a freak show.”

For example, the sheriff felt the desire to kick his …..you know what for the way he spoke to people, including Seth ( the leading character).

It was an entertaining movie nevertheless – especially the first scene with the exploding frog. There are some disturbing scenes – like a father who commits suicide in front of his nine-year-old son – or an English lady acting as weird as it can, dreaming of her dead husband.

As I mentioned, the brilliant cinematography was probably the best asset of this movie. I watched it at home, but I am sure that the sunset scenes or the natural ones would look absolutely amazing on a cinema screen.

Reflecting Skin is not the best movie I have seen, but I guess some scenes will be stuck in my mind for a while. After all, being characterized as a Coming out of age movie ( while being a twisted horror drama at the same time ) – it does a great job in the genre if you look at it from that perspective as it visually captures the essence of childhood and growing up.

Lessons at the End of Spring

Not an easy film to watch – “Lessons at the end of the spring” tells the story of a boy who is arrested by mistake and is locked in prison. Everything is happening in Russia – but you know every day, people who are empowered do that to innocent victims from many other countries – my own is not an exception.

The movie lifts the curtain of the horrible scenes behind bars – and does a good job of portraying the horrors of life behind bars and the loss of innocence of an eighth-grader (Danya Tolkachev). His life is changed forever.

This movie reminded me of My Name is Ivan, which is another masterpiece of Russian cinema. I got angry while watching it – angry that some dorks in positions of power can be so brutal to people.

There is no justice – and this movie shows this reality so clearly – maybe you won’t be able to feel that, but I doubt it. As they say, “If someone says that your sister is pregnant, go prove that do you do not have a sister. “

Watch this movie if you want to see something serious but be aware that there are scenes of psychological and physical torture and some others that are not suitable for everyone.

Few Quotes from this movie:

“What do you know about prison. “

“I love people! And I hate them “

“Where have you been, mother? Why didn’t you protect me? “

“Don’t tell anyone what happened here. “

Saint Ralph

I really liked “Saint Ralph “. It is great movie full with inspiration. Ralph is a fourteen years old teenager who choose to chases his own miracle – winning the Boston’s marathon. He believes that since people say that such achievement will be a miracle – his mother will wake up from the coma. It is a drama movie and as such there are quite a few scenes which can evoke emotions in its viewers.

The movie starts with a fun scene in which Ralph is having something to confess – what – well he is a teen and have teen “ sins “ . I like the attitude of Ralph – the way he handles girls for example, or accusations …etc. He is a cute kid as well – and probably one of the reasons for me liking this movie is that I somehow relate to him.After all I have been in the Cross Country Team while studding in the States and when I was his age I took part in many running competitions. You should have seen me watching this movie, as another reviewer (samurai2347) wrote “I was cheering Ralph on as much as the other characters in the film were.”

The soundtrack was really good – and the music contributed to the overall good impression that the movie leaves. Looking at the storyline – I find similarities with Billy Elliot, trough of course this movie has its own uniqueness.

Sin Destino

When I watched this movie a few days ago, I admit that it is one of the most original ways to address a difficult subject. The acting was fine – and though I have read comments that the actors were not professionals, I could hardly say that judging from their performance in the movie. Many sexual references are present in this movie, as well as harsh language – but with the issues it addresses, this couldn’t have been avoided. The main character is a young street hustler in Mexico – and by the end of the movie, you will not know if you should feel sympathy, pity or will hate him – even though the question of whether he should be blamed for a single thing he does or not is not that simple to answer.

Barnens O

I did not quite get Barnens O – it is one of the weirdest ones I have watched. The soundtrack was quite unusual as well – written and performed by Jean Michel Jarre – it makes the movie weirder than it was.

I have to admit that I was almost going to change it and watch another one instead –at times, the movie seemed plain dumb to me, or boring – or confusing. There are quite a few sexual references in that movie – though they, too, are kind of messed up.

The only phrase that I will remember of it will probably be “When you are alone, you can control things “– and “I will show them “- or something like that. The boy (Tomas Fryk) in that movie was obsessed with the idea of not growing up – “the last summer as a child, “he thought once – and he sure lived it to the max.

Swedish movies tend to be a bit weird – and I have seen quite a few of them – but at the same time, watching them is just a different experience, I guess. Barens 0 is one of the most popular Swedish movies ( judging from google trends). Simultaneously, the movie can be classified as a coming-of-age movie as it truly shows the development – both physical and mental of the young actor. So if you have a few hours to spare you can watch this movie

– but you won`t miss much if you don`t.

IMDB (link)

Sapore Del Grano – The Flavor Of Corn (1986)

My guess is that this movie is going to evoke different feelings in different people. I felt disappointed- not of the movie – I like it a lot, but of the way the leading character (a first year teachers) choose to follow – I almost screamed “ how dare you “ – even trough I know that some people would say that he did the right thing.

The scenes were filmed very professionally – the river, the barn, the fields – you just have to see it for yourself. There is one thing that I find strange – the open minded people that live in the rural Italy in the 80s – this is almost unbelievable – for its time I am sure that this movie was considered very controversial – I won`t be surprised if it is considered controversial even today . Feeling such as friendship and love are portrayed very good and there is a lot of romance – even trough sometimes it gets between all that clusters of the routine live.

Trough I enjoyed the movie – it made me sad – it did not surprised me much , as I know that there is rarely a thing which one could consider perfect – even if thing is called love – and probably especially if that thing is love. I can only hope that someday people will realize that the important thing is the love itself…

Goodnight Mister Tom (1998)

“The sores will heal. They healed before. It’s the wounds inside that will take the longest to….”

Sometimes I watch a movie and am really impressed by it – and still, it is not easy to explain why I liked it that much. This is mostly true for the uncommon movies – the ones one can hardly compare with the rest out there. Goodnight, Mister Tom is one of these special movies.

There is a lot of emotion in that movie – and the acting was so good that while watching the movie, I was crying and laughing as the story went on. The young Nick Robinson – is a young boy (William) evacuated from London because of the airstrikes there during the Second World War. Mr. Tom, played by John Thaw, is an older man living in the village the evacuated children were sent to.

At first, Tom refuses to take any responsibilities – such as taking care of a troubled young lad – but accepts since he is left without a choice. During the stay, Mr. Tom discovers how horrible life has been for William – alongside his luggage; his mom sent a belt and written instructions to the host of her son – not to hesitate to use it. This belt is berried in the field – never to be used in such a brutal manner.

Mr. Tom provides a real home for William, and the boy is happy with his new life. He goes to school, makes new friends and discovers hidden talents. Suddenly, a letter William is called home in London with a letter mentioning that she is not feeling well…and it starts all over again – only this time it gets much worse…

You can sense many feelings in this movie – love, fear, sadness, happiness, pain, hope – and much more. Goodnight, Mr. Tom is another masterpiece of the British cinema comparable only with Dear Frankie and Billy Elliot – if one is to compare. I have truly enjoyed watching it and highly recommend it. Before finishing this review, I would also like to mention the great performance of Thomas Orange in the role of Zac – reminded me of a friend of mine from my own childhood ( :

Second best (1994)

Second, best is a touching and moving masterpiece directed by Chris Menges. The plot reminded me of another great British movie – “Dear Frankie. “I guess it is that father–son relationship that makes movies like these two so special. The loyalty of the son, both in the characters of Jimmy, played by Nathan Yapp and Graham Holt (William Hurt), is touching, and I am not ashamed to admit that there were moments of this movie that truly brought tears to my eyes.

One other reviewer wrote:

“Chris Cleary Miles’ apparently initial screen performance as the troubled youth is nearly amazing.”

And I couldn’t agree more with that – the acting of Chris Cleary Miles, William Hurt and for that matter, all the other actors in this movie is first class – their gestures, the words they say, the way they say them – you have to watch it to experience the movie – because that is what you are going to get an unforgettable experience.

The flashbacks moments (the memories of the little Jimmy) were very carefully chosen, and I felt really weird watching them, knowing that there is something more hidden there. This feeling stayed with me until the final scenes in which these flashbacks became more revealing …

They’re also a lot of symbolism in Second Best –the scene in which the boy looks at the man who wants to adopt him through a broken window is just one example, and if you watch it more than once, you will surely notice many other symbols – the letter, the scars … etc.

You couldn’t watch the movie without noticing how much the music contributes to it – piano or guitars. It fits the scenes really well – making the emotional impact on the viewer’s powerful and overwhelming.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0111102/combined

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