The Kid with a Bike 2011

The Kid with a Bike 2011
Le gamin au vélo (original title)
1h 27m | Drama | 18 May 2011 (Belgium)

Storyline:

At about 11, the stubborn and impulsive Cyril seems on his way to delinquency: he has no mother, his father wants a new life without him, so he’s in a foster institution. He searches for his father, wanting him and his bike. Through the intersession of Samantha, a hairdresser Cyril happens upon, he gets his bike back, and she offers to take him into her home on weekends. He remains aloof from her and gets involved with a young crook. Is Cyril intent on driving Samantha away – and what then?

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)
Rated PG-13 for thematic elements, violence, brief language and smoking

User review:

This film takes place in Europe (Belgium, apparently) so it has far less of the violence that would accompany the same story set in America. But otherwise the story is particularly painful to watch because the essential elements – a kid without a father, his self-hate and anger, the substitute father figures laying in wait – are directly relevant to the American context. In a lean, tough story, the film takes us through a broad tour of the issues and risks and even reasons for hope in these situations. Young Thomas Doret fiercely embodies the aching and the rage of a boy who wants a father at any price and is a near-force of nature in trying to obtain what should be his by right. Cécile De France’s Samantha has numerous real-life counter-parts, credited by more than one survivor of these dilemmas, but not always successful in their roles as passionate rescuers. How this particular story turns out is not so important as the realization that all across the world children live in Cyril’s situation; some make it, many don’t.

Directors: Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne
Writers: Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne
Stars: Thomas Doret, Cécile de France, Jérémie Renier
Countries of origin: Belgium, France, Italy
Language: French
Filming locations: Oupeye, Liège, Wallonia, Belgium