Review of The Selfish Giant (2013) by Panta O — 26 Jul 2014

This British drama written and directed by Clio Barnard, inspired by the Oscar Wilde story of the same name. Talented Clio Barnard is already a well-known British director of documentary and feature films. She won widespread critical acclaim and multiple awards for her debut, The Arbor, and she was hailed as a significant new voice in British cinema for The Selfish Giant, which premiered in the Director's Fortnight section of the Cannes film festival. Her realistic yet lyrical work was compared by some critics to that of Ken Loach. Time Out said of The Selfish Giant, "this is 'Kes' revisited in a post-Thatcher northern England." The casting was simply superb, and Conner Chapman as Arbor, Shaun Thomas as Swifty and Sean Gilder as Kitten were always performing the best possible way!

The exceptionally well developed story follows the lives of Arbor and Swifty, teenage boys growing up in an impoverished area of Bradford, northern England. Tiny Arbor suffers from hyperactivity disorder, which often results in trouble for him and his best friend. When the school suspension kicks in, after a fight, the best friends decide to earn money collecting and selling scrap metal. They quickly pick up the "secrets of the trade" and start stealing copper from telecom, railway, and power utilities. Quite lucrative, but dangerous as well... They sell their scrap to a local scrap dealer, Kitten who is horse racing enthusiast... he allows Swifty to work with the horse, once he realizes Swifty's surprising affection for and natural talent with horses. Kitten also lets the boys borrow the horse and a cart to collect scrap metal... or maybe something else?

If you are ready for a real life drama put together with gusto by a person who knows her stuff, please check out the Best Film at the 24th Stockholm International Film Festival and the winner of the Europa Cinemas award at the Cannes.