Son of Rambow (2008)

The expectation
I saw a few previews of this one and just could not wait to see it. Making homemade videos while struggling against the pressures of everyday life. As a child, this includes school work, family expectations, and other everyday duties. Whether taking out the trash and emptying the dishwasher (my hard childhood), or avoiding television and staying true to his religious duties (the film's main character, Will Proudfoot), this is one story our escapist culture can relate to. Creating the film, Son of Rambow, becomes a journey just as important as all the other duties in a child's life, and makes them all worthwhile. This one had high expectations from me, but in a whimsical, fun way where I already understood the adventure.

The result
Son of Rambow is a delightful film that all movie lovers will appreciate. It is the dream we all had as children (and maybe still do), to pick up a camera and make a movie the old fashioned way. Editing with two VCRs (often off with the timing just a bit so scenes are cut off), striving for the seamlessness that you have already visualized over and over in your head, doing all your own stunts, and making the most of the resources around you. On a deeper level, it is the story of a boy and his journey to grow up, forced to leave his religious community's seclusion, and really interact with the difficult task of interacting with childhood peers. It was fun, creative, and touching yet managed to stay away from exaggerated drama. You can feel for these characters without it being forced on you. And the ending did choke me up a bit, but only because I wanted to be those kids again. Go see this one, it is a tribute to the power of imagination.

Pay attention to
The countryside: oh to live in a pastoral environment, it really informs the rest of the story, as environment always does!;
The Music: invoking The Cure is always a really good idea but they really fit with this film, good choice!;
The power of film: sometimes I talk about this way too much but movies are so culturally powerful in our society that being a part of their construction can attract a large variety of characters (by this I mean personalities). If only they were all really a space for the cultivation of diversity.
And the website: as whimsical and inspired as the film itself, and you can sample the music.