JIFFest: A quality cinematic outing for capital's children<\/p>\n
By Tam Notosusanto<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The kids are certainly not left out at the
\nJakarta International Film Festival. They have their own shows to
\nsee: movies the festival's organizers have specially prepared for
\nthem. And these are not animated flicks with cute creatures and
\nheroic figures in fantasyland.<\/p>\n
These are films with real settings, real problems and child
\ncharacters as real as the ones in the audience themselves.<\/p>\n
Take Wide Awake. Set in a Catholic school in a suburb of
\nPhiladelphia, the movie may not immediately strike a chord with
\nmost Jakarta moviegoers. But as its main character, 10-year-old
\nJoshua Beal (Joseph Cross), steps up to the foreground, we cannot
\nhelp rooting for this cherubic, wavy-haired blond.<\/p>\n
Joshua takes us inside his school, where he spends most of his
\ndays studying, playing and reflecting. Amid stiff nuns and bratty
\nboys, he has his closest allies: his best friend David (Timothy
\nReifsnyder), and a cool nun (Rosie O'Donnell), who explains the
\nBible by way of describing a baseball game.<\/p>\n
On the home front, Joshua has loving parents (Denis Leary and
\nDana Delany), who are both doctors, and a teenage sister (Julia
\nStiles), who is alternately affectionate and mean toward him. But
\nJoshua's greatest pal and protector is his grandfather (Robert
\nLoggia), who spends so much quality time together with him.<\/p>\n
When his grandfather dies, Joshua's world seems to be falling
\napart. Confused as to how he can channel his grief, Joshua
\ndecides to go on a quest: he wants to find and meet with God, to
\nmake sure that his grandfather is well taken care of.<\/p>\n
Director M. Night Shyamalan, two years before he became a
\nhousehold name with The Sixth Sense, shows his preoccupation with
\nchildren and the issue of death. Wide Awake and The Sixth Sense
\ndo have so much resemblance, right down to their similarly frail,
\ntormented-looking young protagonists.<\/p>\n
Although dealing with quite heavy material here, Wide Awake
\nstays light and soft; it wants to show how a little kid handles
\ntrauma without having to traumatize its young audience.
\nMaintained at a child's point-of-view, the film demonstrates how
\na youngster's coming-of-age journey, however bitter, is always
\nfunny, wonderful and magically spiritual.<\/p>\n
The Mighty is another film that depicts how youngsters survive
\npainful and difficult circumstances. Its central character, Max
\n(Elden Henson), is a humongously oversized 15-year-old who is a
\npassive target of all taunts and teases. His life changes when he
\nmeets a new schoolmate, the disabled, terminally ill Kevin
\n(Kieran Culkin). Kevin helps out with Max's reading problems, in
\nexchange for company and a pair of healthy legs. \"You need a
\nbrain, I need legs,\" he tells Max, and so he enjoys going around
\ntown on top of Max's strong shoulders.<\/p>\n
They become an inseparable duo, bound together by their love
\nof the tales of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table.
\nBritish director Peter Chelsom paints this wonderful picture of
\nfriendship and mutual symbiosis with the kids' imagination that
\nthey are themselves the Knights of Camelot, battling society's
\nevils with their swords and armor.<\/p>\n
And this film is illuminated by the two young stars'
\npassionate performances. Culkin is as cute and winsome as his
\nmore famous brother, only he is less superficial and arguably a
\nmuch better actor. But Henson is the center of attention here,
\nbringing earnestness and emotion to his character that makes us
\nfeel every bit of the heartbreak Max seems to be concealing
\ninside.<\/p>\n
The Mighty is made even more special by Sharon Stone's
\nwonderful turn as Kevin's grief-stricken mother, a performance
\nthat earned her a Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting
\nActress. And fans of The X-Files may find delight in seeing
\nGillian Anderson here as you have never seen her before.<\/p>\n
A little Swedish movie called Nature's Warrior is also slotted
\nto fill in the children's fun time. Part surreal fantasy, part
\nenvironmental campaign, the film tells of Kim (Robin Mildoff), a
\n13-year-old boy who is fascinated with nature and spends most of
\nhis time in the great outdoors.<\/p>\n
A dreamlike encounter with an Indian chief suddenly inspires
\nhim to be a crusader for the protection of nature. Kim leaves
\nhome, sets his dwelling in a makeshift cabin near a lake, and
\nbegins his new occupation.<\/p>\n
Beginning with picking up garbage left by irresponsible
\ntourists at the natural resort, Kim goes on to the extremes:
\nsabotaging animal traps and scaring off potential hunters with
\nhis bow and arrows. Director Stefan Jarl keeps his movie from
\nbeing a blatant public service announcement about nature's
\nprotection.<\/p>\n
The beautiful cinematography and the tranquil scenes,
\ncharacteristic of Carroll Ballard's nature movies, help make the
\nfilm a solid work of cinema.<\/p>\n
As the festival offers adult moviegoers a wealth of movies
\nthey do not regularly find at their local cinema, these three
\nfilms give the younger visitors a chance to check out movies that
\ninvite them to think and feel, a rare treat that should come our
\nway more often.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/jiffest-a-quality-cinematic-outing-for-capitals-children-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}