Vito And The Others (Vito e gli altri)

Haunting and hypnotic, Vito and the others is the groundbreaking film which drew international attention to the problem of neglected youth and street crime in poverty-stricken Naples. The film’s opening moments are startling and deeply disturbing. A despairing Rosario has just murdered his wife and daughter at the dinner table on New Year’s Eve. Somehow, Vito quietly convinces his father to drop the gun, spare their lives and call the police. Placed in the custody of sexually abusive relatives, Vito is left free to roam the trash-strewn backstreets of Naples where he and is friends engage in drug abuse, prostitution and petty crime. Ably acted by a large cast of nonprofessional street kids, Vito and the others is a heartrending portrait of innocents without a future.

Director: Antonio Capuano

Cast: Nando Triola (Vito)

Year: 1991

Country of origin: Italy

 

 

 

Whispering Moon (Das Flüstern des Mondes)

Is this a film made by a highschool beginners class or is it a modern masterpiece, or is it simply something there in between? You´ll make your own judgment after you´ve seen it! Two boyfriends, the handsome and mute Patrick, and the young and also rather cute Jannis, get themselves involved in a ”poison-frog-murder-story”. The plot is sometimes really confusing, and it´s not easy to follow all its leads throughout the movie. At the same time, comparing to other films about troubled youth, this is in my opinion a fresh non-pretentious way of telling a sweet story about love and compassion between two young males. There is more of full nudity and (faked?) sex scenes than in many other similar films. 23-year-old Julian Stampfer and  Dominik Hartel do great acting performances and are also looking sweet together. As a gay or coming-of-age film its a little hard for everyone to like a guess, due mostly to the somewhat unusal manuscript, but at least there is clearly more action here than in for example ”Glue” to name another similar movie.  

Director: Michael Satzinger

Cast:

-Julian Stampfer (Jannis) (born in 1983)

-Dominik Hartl (Patrick) (born in 1983)

Year: 2006

Country of origin: Austria

Edges Of The Lord

Haley Joel Osment (Secondhand Lions, A.I. Artificial Intelligence, The Sixth Sense) and Willem Dafoe (The Aviator, Spider-Man1&2) star in ”Edges Of The Lord”, an inspiring and enthralling story that´s seen through the eyes of a child. To escape an unthinkable fate, a young Jewish boy´s parents send him to the countryside. And that´s when his adventure begins. Spirited away from the Nazi-occupied city in a gunnysack, he´s taken in by a kind village farmer with children of his own, masquerades as the farmer´s nephew and is coached by the parish priest (Dafoe).

Filled with outstanding performances and brilliantly written, this triumphant film is sure to capture your heart.

Director: Yurek Bogayevicz

Cast:

-Haley Joel Osment (Romek)

-Willem Dafoe (Priest)

Year: 2001

Country of origin: USA/Poland

Filmography Haley Joel Osment:

Pictures from ”Edges of the Lord”:

Big Bang Love, Juvenile A

Inside a mysterious prison, two young prisoners from vastly different backgrounds experience a bond that transcends their tormented past. As they open their hearts to each other, life around them dissolves between a real world containing an investigative murder mystery, and a surreal journey filled with images of a primitive past and an ambiguous future.

”….an overtly homoerotic, Brechtian prison drama whose barely-lit concrete corridors echo whispers of Von Trier and Godard.” 

Director: Takashi Miike

Cast:

-Ryuhei Matsuda (Ariyoshi)

-Masanobu Ando (Kazuki)

Year: 2006

Country of origin: Japan

Original title: 46-okunen no koi

 

The 400 Blows (Le quatre cents coups)

Francois Truffaut´s first feature is also his most personal. Told through the eyes of Truffaut´s cinematic counterpart, Antoine Doinel (Jean-Pierre Léaud), The 400 Blows sensitively re-creates the trials of Truffaut´s own difficult childhood, unsentimentally portraying aloof parents, oppressive teachers, and petty crime. The film marks Truffaut´s passage from leading critic of the French new wave to his emergence as one of Europe´s most brilliant auteurs.

Director: Francois Truffaut

Cast: Jean-Pierre Léaud (Antoine Doinel)

Year: 1959

Country of origin: France

Robby

Two, young boys shipwrecked on a deserted tropical island. A modern Robinson Crusoe legend of friendship and survival. Boys and nature untouched, unspoiled and uninhibited. This lost classic rediscovered is a heartwarming masterpiece and one of the most unusual family films to come along in decades.

Director: Ralph C. Bluemke

Cast:

-Warren Raum (Robby)

-Ryp Siani (Friday)

Year: 1968

Country of origin: USA

Koktebel

Following the death of his wife and loss of his job, a Russian engineer sets off from Moscow with his 11 year old son for his sister´s house, in the Black Sea resort of Koktebel. With no money or means of transport, they drift through Russia´s expansive and mesmerising landscape at the mercy of chance. For the father, the journey is an attempt to restore self respect, piece together his broken life and win back the trust of his son. For the boy, the mythical coastal town holds the key to a new life and emancipation. Boris Khlebnikov and Alexei Popogrebsky´s critically acclaimed, award-winning road movie is a wonderfully acted, delicately observed and beautifully shot drama that has been favourably compared to the work of directors such as Terrence Malick, Andrei Tarkovsky and Francois Truffaut.

Directors:

-Boris Khlebnikov

-Alexei Popogrebsky

Cast:

-Gleb Puskepalis (the son)

-Igor Csernyevics (the father)

Year: 2003

Land of origin: Russia

Distributor: Artificial Eye