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.
Zip and Zap and the Captain’s Island 2016
Zipi y Zape y la Isla del Capitán (original title)
Adventure | 29 July 2016 (Spain)
Storyline:
It’s Christmas and Zip and Zap are up to their old tricks. But this time they’ve gone too far and their punishment will be no Christmas vacation and a seemingly boring boat trip with their parents instead. To their surprise, the destination is a spectacular remote island. But a terrifying storm rolls in and they’re forced to seek shelter at a mansion belonging to the eccentric Miss Pam, where children without families enjoy a paradise with no rules. Helped by their new friends, Flecky, Macky and Pippi, the brothers discover that their parents’ sudden disappearance in the middle of the night is related to the mysterious secret behind the island and its strange inhabitants.
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.)
Steam of Life 2010
Steam of Life 2010
Miesten vuoro (original title)
1h 21min | Documentary | 26 March 2010 (Finland)
Storyline:
Finnish men in sauna, speaking straight from the heart.
Glasskar 2002
Glasskår (original title)
1h 16min | Drama, Family | 15 February 2002 (Norway)
User review:
Norwegian director Berg takes an unusual approach in this film about a young teen boy: He makes an honest, artistic film with adult production values that actually speaks to kids. The content may seem a bit grown up, but it’s right where these children live! Sometime in the 1980s, Viktor (Evjen), a sharp, perceptive 13-year-old who’s afraid he will never be as cool as his big brother OK (Lauritzsen). His pals (Eidissen and Stigar) seem to feel the same, so they form a band just to get the girls’ attention, even though none of them can play an instrument. Meanwhile, Viktor knows something’s up in his family. His parents (Kokkin and Kolsrud) are not talking to him, while OK tells him secrets he finds hard to believe. Meanwhile, Viktor notices a new girl (Johansen) and gets entangled with the local thug (Rafaelsen) and his girlfriend (Gjertsen). Basically, Viktor knows far more than anyone gives him credit for. And he cooler than all of them put together!
While the filmmaking itself is profoundly un-flashy, Berg captures the story beautifully. This is rich, meaningful cinema–thoroughly entertaining in its use of humour and unexpected adventures to keep us engaged, and then deepening it with a fairly intense examination of family communication (what the film is really about, as opposed to more obvious themes). Why do adults lie and keep the truth from children? Sometimes this is a little heavy-handed, but it’s never sentimental at all, and Berg gets terrific, natural, edgy performances from the entire cast. Evjen is especially good, making Viktor a very intriguing character we like instantly and then learn to respect (he becomes a bit too saintly at the end, but never mind). It’s rare to find a film about children made with this level of integrity and truthfulness; so keep an eye out for it.
Memories of My Childhood 1965
Amintiri din copilarie (original title)
1h 12min | Adventure, Biography, Comedy | 13 December 1965 (Romania)
Storyline:
Loosely based on Romanian author Ion Creanga’s life as a child during the 1840s.Young schoolboy Ion is growing up fast in a provincial town of the Moldavia region of Romania.Local villagers call him “Nica a lui Stefan a Petrei”.The film offers a detailed account of his childhood with special focus on the relationships between Ion and the various people in his life.The relationships between Ion as a child and his parents,friends,neighbors and teachers are described.The larger context of the Romanian rural social universe of the 19th century is also touched upon.Finally,the film shows Ion’s coming-of-age from an innocent child growing up in an idyllic remote village to a rebellious adolescent dreaming of becoming a priest.
Les tilleuls de Lautenbach 1983
Les tilleuls de Lautenbach 1983
Also Known As: Die Linden von Lauterbach
Family | TV Movie 23 December 1983
Plot:
The film is based on the autobiographical novel by Jean Egen. Written with a sense of humor, he quickly sold out in France within a few weeks it sold 100 000 copies. This is the story of an Alsatian family from the point of view of a child who does not understand, belonging to a nation he must feel in himself. Recall that Alsace and Lorraine are alternately passed to France, then to Germany until the 2nd world war.
Jeux d’enfants 2003
14 | 1h 33min | Comedy, Drama, Romance | 29 August 2003 (USA)
Storyline
Julien Janvier lost his mother young, drifted apart from his working class father and ever closer to confident Sophie Kowalsky, the Polish class outsider. Their dares game, symbolized by an interchanged music-box, grows ever bolder, regardless of harm to others and each-other. In his college years, it even suspends their relationship and toys with their marriages, but they are drawn back to each-other irresistibly.
