Lessons at the end of spring

Another Russian coming of age film, this one from 1989, where you sometimes in the dialogue can sense the fall of the Soviet union, even if the film is pre-perestrojka. Like most other Russian coming of age films, this one is also of high class, with excellent performances from for example the thirteen year old boy (played by Danya Tolkachev), but also from the other characters. The story is well written and the soundtrack quiet ok, especially towards the end. The film is about a boy who gets imprisoned after having attending a street riot on his way to the cinemas. We will then follow his days in prison, which can be a harsh place to be at his age.

* Country: Soviet Union

* Release: 1989

* Director: Oleg Kavun

* Actors: Danya Tolkachev

* Award: Promotional award, Cottbus Film Festival of Young East European Cinema

       

Photo: *****(excellent)

Acting: ****(very good)

Story: ****(very good)

Soundtrack: ***(good)

Total: ****(very good)

This review would not have been possible without the valuable support of CVMC. I would like to thank them for supporting my blog by providing the DVD of  “Lessons at the end of spring” .

Check out lots of other coming of age films at cvmc.net, the oldest movie rental service on the internet – since 1998. Specializing in hard to find & rare films from around the world!

Le fils du requin (Son of the shark)

Two brothers, about 10 and 12 (I´m not completely sure), living outside the society as they have run away from home after their mother left them. Still back home is their abusive father who doesn´t seem to care much about them, and a smaller brother. The film is dark. And then I mean not only the story, but also the absence of colors. It must have been shot in the winter or late autumn somewhere in France at the greyest possible weather conditions. It´s rainy and cold and greyish  throughout the film, and it reflects on the screenshots. The two brothers are real vandals and noone seems to be able to control them or offer something they would appreciate. They go in and out of juvenile detention centers or foster families. Near the end of the film you´ll get some more profound feeling of sympathy for them, even if you can see the sadness in their eyes long before. They´re sad and angry at the same time, and some reviewers of this film have in my opinion not been able to see the connection between those emotions.  This is a sociorealistic drama, and highly recommendable for those of you who like these kind of films. Other films about troubled boys are for example ”The boy who cried bitch” and ”L´enfance nue” .

                 

Benny´s gym

This is one of 5 short films covered in one DVD, coming from the Norwegian Filminstitute. For a very nice trailer with English subtitles go to Ikarus, the text about the film there is in German, but you´ll find the trailer in the end. It´s enjoyable!

Direct link to the trailer. You can buy the complete film at the Norwegian Filminstitute.

Don´t forget to check out much more at Ikarus!

Another good Norwegian film is ”Sons” .

The 5 short films are:

”Lykke til, pappa” /”Ice”

”Bennys gym” /”Benny´s gym”

”Der nede sorger de ikke”/ ”Down there they don´t mourn”

”Elva bak huset” /”Behind the house”

”Stikk” /”Sting”

 

Alfred is 12 and is constantly bullied

by the other boys at school. Alfred is good at drawing and one of the bullies, Benny, begins to show interest in his artistic abilities. He wants to get a tattoo and persuades Alfred to secretly give him one. This is the beginning of a friendship between Alfred and Benny that is initially involuntary, but gradually becomes quite warm. A friendship that must be kept secret at all costs.

 

 

ORIGINAL TITLE: BENNYS GYM
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: NORWAY 2007
DIRECTOR: Lisa Marie Gamlem
PRODUCER: Christian Fredrik Martin, Asle Vatn
SCRIPT: Lisa Marie Gamlem
PHOTO: Marius Motzow Gulbrandsen
CAST: Atdhe Belegu, Kim Erik Tena Eriksen
RUNTIME: 24 min.
PRODUCTION: Friland
INT. SALES: Norsk filminstitutt

 

”Benny´s gym”

”Der nede sorger de ikke” /”Down there they don´t mourn”

Synopsis: We meet two classmates who can´t adjust to life at school. Even if he has lived there for a year now, Thomas still hasn´t been accepted by his classmates. Karsten is an oddball liked by few. The film is about the day when they, for various reasons, sneak away from their swimming lesson and destroy the carpentry room. This is a film about how inner angst shows itself in physical destructive behaviour.

”Stikk”/ ”Sting”

Synopsis: Alexander is 13 years old, small, thin and gets bullied in school. But one day a new guy comes to his class and encourages Alexander to get revenge! 

”Elva bak huset” /”Behind the house”

Synopsis: A dark story about the first time you see someone like yourself.

In the arms of my enemy (Voleurs de chevaux)

In this marvellous French film from 2007 we meet two couples of brothers somewhere in undefined Eastern Europe in 1856. Combined historical environment with an astonishing photo and sparse dialogs make this film about friendship, murder, revenge and finally love to that movie you didn´t want to miss. I watched it myself at a film festival last year!

The Island On Bird Street

In this film from 1998, we´ll follow the 11-year-old Jewish boy Alex, who is trying to survive the German Nazis during World War II. Living in a Polish ghetto with his father and great-uncle, Alex manages to hide inside the remains of a collapsed building when the troops come to clear the ghetto. Now he has to manage on his own, with his pet mouse Snow as the only friend. This is a very well made, sad and haunting film, that is based on a true story. The photo is excellent, and Jordan Kiziuk, who is playing Alex, is doing a great performance here.  

Max And Moritz RELOADED

Max and Moritz (Willi Gerk and Kai Michael Mueller) are two young brothers living an adventurous life of petty crime in Hamburg, Germany. After the two boys steal a car and get into an accident, with the adolescent daughter of a Hamburg senator sitting in the passenger seat, the two scoundrels are packed up and sent to a boot camp. This military- style camp is run by Axel and Henry, two former East German soldiers who still strongly believe in communism but are secretly gay lovers. Max and Moritz steal another car…a red Ferrari owned by small- town pimp Morder- Hanne (Ben Becker). The natonalistic sadist teaches the boys a painful lesson, but Max and Moritz wouldn´t be Max and Moritz if they let this weekend- fascist get them down…and when they aquire the key to their military school´s ordinance depot, things start to change. A humorous and action packed look at two troublesome boys with a flair for violence! Some similarities in style with this film.

This German film from 2005 is really fun!

Warning: Contains no illustrations of religion, catholic priests or moral behaviour.

George Washington

Over the course of one hot summer, a group of children in the rural South is forced to confront a tangle of difficult choices in a decaying world. An ambitiously constructed, sensuously photographed meditation on adolescence, the first feature film by director David Gordon Green features breakout performances from an award-winning ensemble cast.

This film from 2000 is a little bit slow but intelligently shot and with great acting. Some of the scenes are similar to scenes in this film.