Ruggine 2011
1h 49min | Drama | 2 September 2011 (Italy)
Storyline:
In a hot summer, the lives of the children are about to be changed forever when two girls are found raped and murdered. The children know who the suspect is but knowing that the adults will never believe them, they decide to keep quiet. When one of their friends sister disappear, they know they have to take the matter into their own hands.
Le voleur d’enfants 1991
1h 50min | Drama | 25 September 1991 (France)
Storyline:
In 1925 Paris, the Colonel kidnaps unhappy or abandoned boys, providing them and his wife with comfort and joy in his rich mansion. Then things become complicated when he adopts a girl.
A Casa 1997
2h | Drama | 1 October 1997 (France)
Storyline:
A ramshackle mansion in the woods: individuals of all type, age and condition eat, roam or rest inside. But always in strict silence.
Priklyucheniya Toma Soyera i Geklberri Finna 1982
3h 45min | Adventure, Family | TV Movie 27 March 1982
User review:
It’s ironic but true – although the Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn are an American classic of iconic status, it would be the old nemesis USSR to go down in history as the country of origin of their most faithful film adaptation. Almost all the story lines of the two books are told, and in a non-embellished fashion. While some may criticize its (lack of) pace, the careful storytelling makes this three hour TV-movie right especially for younger audiences. Precisely because this is not as high budget as some of the US versions, it is astonishing to watch how detailed the Mississippi towns were built in the Soviet Union (everything had to be built from scratch)! Try this one if you love the book and don’t mind the harsh realism of the story.
La maison des bois 1971
52min | Drama | TV Mini-Series (1971– )
User review:
Set in the French countryside during the Great War of 1914-18 Pialat’s extraordinary seven episode TV serial extends the themes of his debut feature L’Enfance Nue, the director however having much more freedom and time to explore the nature of childhood and the impact on children abandoned by their parents. The series focuses on the experiences of three children (including even Michel Tarrazon, the young star of the earlier movie) living out in the country with gamekeeper Albert and Maman Jeanne on the country estate of a Marquis. The gamekeeper and his wife have their own older children, Marcel and Marguerite, but the three boys have been sent there by their parents who have been caught up in the war, the fathers called up to the front, the mothers simply unable to look after them in the present climate.
Wengler und Soehne 1987
Wengler & Söhne (original title)
2h 19min | Drama, History
Storyline:
This film tells a story spanning three generations, from 1871 to 1945. After the farmer’s son, Gustav Wengler, returns from the Franco-German war in 1871, he goes to work in a precision mechanics and optical company. He soon becomes a master craftsman; he is loyal and devoted to this company and promises his director on his deathbed that his sons and grandchildren will also stand by the company. At last, the time comes for his talented grandson Paul to honor this promise and join the company. In the meantime, however, the company has gained a worldwide reputation and supports the Third Reich. Although Paul is skeptical about the Nazi leadership, he continues working for the company. When he sees the company destroyed during the war, old Gustav Wengler realizes his family is responsible for the turn the country has taken.
Quand j’avais 5 ans je m’ai tué 1994
1h 40min | Drama | 2 February 1994 (France)
Storyline:
This film is about Gils, a young boy (about ten) in a juvenile mental hospital in 1950’s France. Flashbacks recount his conflicts with authority and his strong relationship with Jessica, a similarly rebellious schoolmate. Simultaneously, a compassionate doctor develops a trusting friendship with Gils, which a higher-ranking authoritarian doctor tries to thwart.
Le vieil homme et l’enfant 1967
1h 30min | Comedy, Drama | 11 March 1967 (France)
Storyline:
Claude is a Jew. Because of the risks of an arrest (France is occupied by the Nazis), his parents send him away to an elderly couple in the country. Pepe, the husband, is a Petain supporter and a anti-Semite, but he does not know about Claude’s religion. The film is the story of their growing mutual affection.
Die Kinder aus Nr. 67 1980
1h 43min | Family | 11 April 1980 (West Germany)
Storyline:
The “Our Gang” type adventures of German working class kids from a Berlin apartment building (number 67) during the early 1930s. With Nazism’s rise, however, their tight-knit group unravels. One leader, Paul, becomes a Nazi. (In a later book of the series, you discover he renounces Nazism and flees to Switzerland.) One, Erwin, resists Nazification. (In a later book, his father takes him to Sweden. He eventually, however, fights for the British.) And the girl, Miriam, who is Jewish, immigrates to Canada. (In a later book, she returns to Europe after the war, where all three comrades finally meet in Geneva to renew their vows of friendship once again.)
