This seems to be the right moment to mention a few things concerning this years filmfest. First of all, the FRESH BLOOD category was absolutely outstanding this year. There was no film I disliked, and according to the organizers, there was only one film that on a scale from 1 to 6 hasn't had a 1,x ranking (the irony being that FOUR LIONS, which I skipped, seems to take away the audience award is proof of just how good this year was).
Second of, this year was a great year for british films. Whenever I see an independent film from the UK, I can be sure it at least has something to it that makes it worth paying money for.
And last but not least, this years filmfest managed to pull some of the most stunning and brilliant independent films out of nowhere. Seeing that some actually criticized this trend to arthouse cinema, I can only wonder what they were anticipating, since most of these films were a lot more thrilling and shocking than the horror films that aired.
And with this, we are at SCOUTING BOOK FOR BOYS, the debut feature of Tom Harper, that tells a tale of two teenagers, living in a british seaside resort.
The film opens with Emily and her best friend David jumping over some trailers, with David falling off of one. The two know each other since childhood, being the only two kids in what is a tourist infested spot near the seaside - there's not much there but trailers and their parents, who in turn aren't very great when it comes to their parental duties. Emily, who slowly grew into a young woman, is sick of being under her mothers thumb, and so she comes up with a scheme - David must help her in retreating to a nearby cave, hoping that by disappearing, she could force her mother to love her.
However, David has other ideas. As Emily is very uncomfortable with living in a cave (well, who would like it?), the young boy comes up with new ideas to care for her - he brings her food and clothing, and tries his best at proving to her that he could be - maybe - a perfect boyfriend, able to take care of her - kudos to Thomas Turgoose and Holliday Grainger for delivering powerful performances as the teenagers in question. They are both believable and likable.
In the outside world, things don't go that easy as they do in the cave: Emily's mother panics after the sudden disappearance of her child (well, who wouldn't?) and calls upon the police, who start a huge investigation, and gradually come up with some raunchy facts about Emily, which slowly undermine David's sympathy for her, providing various reasons why she could hide in a cave that are much darker than parental abuse.
Shot in an aesthetic remarkably close to that of directors as Sofia Coppola or Shunki Iwai, THE SCOUTING BOOK FOR BOYS is a calm, haunting and beautiful film about the pains of growing up and the everyday problems of both teenagers and the british lower class. There was some discussion about the ending of the film (in short - those who found it realistic loved the film, those who didn't hated it), but all in all, this is one more remarkably well made and engaging british independent drama that I'll surely add to my DVD collection.
Rating - 9/10
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