The Boy Soldier 1981

The Boy Soldier 1981

The Boy Soldier 1981

The Boy Soldier 1981
Allons z’enfants (original title)

Storyline:

This is a coming of age drama adapted from the 1952 Yves Gibeau novel of the same title. A young anti-militarist is forcibly sent to military school by his father. He’s a bookish pacifist who endures being bullied by his superiors all throughout school, not out of weakness rather out of strength to deny violence it’s coveted reciprocity. On the eve of his much anticipated graduation day, Word War II ensues and swaps out the freedom he earned for the brutality of its first front lines. An original score by French composer Phillipe Sarde with photography directed by Yves Boisset sets the atmosphere of 1932 in France.

Continue reading

Marie Baie des Anges 1997

Marie Baie des Anges 1997

Marie Baie des Anges 1997

Marie Baie des Anges 1997
1h 30m | Drama, Romance | 31 August 1997 (Italy)

Storyline:

A random montage of disturbing images tell a story about one summer in the lives of two teenagers who somehow find love within each other, Orso and Marie. After they realize this, they run off to a hidden island off the coast of France where they can not be bothered until Orso’s hunger for danger and crime become too much for him, forcing him to return to his normal life…

Continue reading

A Different Kind of War 1996

A Different Kind of War 1996

A Different Kind of War 1996

A Different Kind of War 1996
Milhama A’Heret (originl title)
14min | Short, Drama, War | 2004 (Israel)

Storyline:

How does one find dignity and self worth in a world of war? In 2000, when the El Aqsa intifada begins, Palestinians from Beit Jala routinely fire on the Gilo neighborhood of southern Jerusalem. Young teen boys, Zahi and his friends, climb to the top of the wall separating Giol from Beit Jala, and shout taunts at the Arabs who in turn take pot shots at the boys. Zahi’s younger brother is Noni, a boy who would rather put on his mother’s makeup than play the soldier. Against the backdrop of the last days of the school year and a school play that the Prime Minister will attend in which Noni has been cast as King David, Zahi forces Noni to climb the wall. Is death at hand?

Continue reading

Cry Macho 2021

Cry Macho 2021

Cry Macho 2021

Cry Macho 2021
1h 44m | Drama, Thriller, Western | 17 September 2021 (USA)

Storyline:

Based on the book, “Cry Macho” stars Clint Eastwood as a one-time rodeo star and washed-up horse breeder who, in 1978, takes a job from an ex-boss to bring the man’s young son home and away from his alcoholic mom. Crossing rural Mexico on their way back to Texas, the unlikely pair faces an unexpectedly challenging journey, during which the world-weary horseman may find his own sense of redemption through teaching the boy what it means to be a good man.

Continue reading

School Town King 2020

School Town King 2020

School Town King 2020

School Town King 2020
2h | Documentary | 17 December 2020 (Thailand)

Storyline:

School Town King opens with a boy rapping. The 18-year-old Book and 13-year-old Non, living in the slums of Thailand, already know a “life that started from zero”. These “slum kids rappers,” who dream of becoming the best rappers in Thailand and buying a house for their mother, are struggling to find a way to quit school. They hate studying but what they hate the most is to recite the “12 commandments to be good children” written by the military. Sometimes in quick and sensuous editing, or with a long tracking shot, Dir. Laisuwanchai builds the rhythm of the film, as the boys rap against poverty, inequality, and repressive educational systems. It is a cheerful and harmonious ensemble of kids rappers and a young director.

Continue reading