Taboo 1999
Gohatto (original title)
1h 40min | Drama, History, Thriller | 18 December 1999 (Japan)
Storyline:
Set during Japan’s Shogun era, this film looks at life in a samurai compound where young warriors are trained in swordfighting. A number of interpersonal conflicts are brewing in the training room, all centering around a handsome young samurai named Sozaburo Kano. The school’s stern master can choose to intervene, or to let Kano decide his own path.
The Art of Crying 2006
Kunsten at græde i kor (original title)
1h 46min | Comedy, Drama | 27 April 2007 (Denmark)
Storyline:
Follows a precocious, eleven-year-old Allan, who tries desperately to keep his dysfunctional, rural family together during the social upheavals of the early seventies. Allan reveres his father, Henry, the local milkman, and can’t understand why others don’t feel the same way. His family life is so twisted he thinks it’s perfectly normal to stay awake all night dealing with his father’s hysterics and suicidal threats. Allan’s older brother left town several years ago, and his mother gave up long before that, relying on sleeping pills to escape Henry’s tantrums. Allan then becomes obsessed with a rival family, whom he considers foolish white trash until they start taking away Henry’s customers. He is frustrated that his mother doesn’t take his father’s complaints seriously, and is perplexed by the increasingly rebellious and bizarre behavior of his sister, Sanne. Incapable of understanding what’s going on and heavily influenced by his father, Allan commits appalling acts, unaware of their import.
Huckleberry Finn 1974
1h 58min | Adventure, Musical | 24 May 1974 (USA)
Storyline:
Huckleberry Finn, a rambuctious boy adventurer chafing under the bonds of civilization, escapes his humdrum world and his selfish, plotting father by sailing a raft down the Mississippi River. Accompanying him is Jim, a slave running away from being sold. Together the two strike a bond of friendship that takes them through harrowing events and thrilling adventures.
Towelhead 2007
Nothing Is Private (original title)
R | 2h 4min | Drama | 11 December 2008 (Hungary)
Storyline:
Against the backdrop of the first Gulf War, Jasira Maroun is 13, physically well developed but naïve and unable to say no. As puberty arrives, her mother sends her from Syracuse to Houston to her curt, up-tight, Lebanese-born father. Over the next few months, Jasira must navigate her father’s strict indifference, her discovery of sexual pleasure, the casual racism of a neighbor boy and her classmates, the sexual advances of the boy’s father, the proffered friendship of a pregnant neighbor, and her attraction to Thomas, an African-American classmate whom her father forbids her to see. Things happen to her, but can she take responsibility and control, or is tragedy inevitable?
It’s Kind of a Funny Story 2010
PG-13 | 1h 41min | Comedy, Drama, Romance | 8 October 2010 (USA)
Storyline:
Craig is a high-school junior, in the gifted program, infatuated with his best friend’s girl. When he realizes he’s suicidal, he checks himself into the psychiatric ward of a hospital, thinking they’ll do an observation, help him, and send him home in time for school the next day. Once in, however, he must stay for a week; the juvenile ward is being renovated, so he’s in with adults as well as a few youths. Bobby, a man with a young daughter, shows him around; Craig notices Noelle, about his age. He tries to keep his friends from finding out where he is. Little things: he draws, goes to therapy, sings, helps Bobby rehearse an interview. Is this the stuff of insight?
I Am David 2003
PG | 1h 30min | Drama | 5 November 2004 (UK)
Storyline:
A 12-year-old boy escapes from a Bulgarian Communist concentration camp and sets out on a journey to reach Denmark.
Je suis le Seigneur du Chateau 1989
1h 30min | Drama, Thriller | 22 February 1989 (France)
Storyline:
Thomas is the 12-year-old son of a millionaire who lives in a big mansion surrounded by woods in France. When his mother dies, his father hires a widowed maid to take care of everything while he is away. The woman brings her only son, Charles, to live with them and, hopefully, be company to lonesome Thomas. The rich boy and the poor one become enemies from the very first encounter. Moved essentially by jealousy and fear, Thomas decides to turn Charles’ life into a hell on Earth, especially after their parents eventually fall in love. As the title suggests, he wants to make it clear to the invader who is the lord of the castle.
Labor Day 2013
12 | 1h 51min | Drama, Romance | 30 August 2013 (Usa)
Storyline:
A depressed mother’s husband has left her for she could not bear a second child. Living alone with her only son, she has an unlikely meeting with an injured escaped convict, and reluctantly takes him into her own care. The man proves to be better than his criminal image as the three bond over Labor Day weekend. The only problem? Everyone in town is looking for him.
Something Like Summer 2017
1h 55min | Drama, Musical, Romance | 25 February 2017 (Australia)
Storyline:
Benjamin Bentley is an openly gay 17 year-old boy in Houston, Texas, with not so many friends. He suddenly becomes infatuated with Tim Wyman, a handsome, popular – apparently straight – newcomer. When a not-so-accident brings them together, their love story begins. They start a secret relationship and build a world of their own. Something Like Summer is a coming of age story of true long-lasting love, about insecurities, social pressure, heartache and love again that spans 12 years. It’s about being true to yourself, letting your heart lead the way and discovering the strength of love.
