THE SELFISH GIANT (2013)

Unexpectedly strong meat from co-writer/director Clio Barnard, working the Ken Loach/Mike Leigh vein of off-the-loop/working-class U.K. (though Belgians Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne never far off*) on two young teenage pals falling thru social network cracks.  And what seems at first to be something of a Tom Sawyer/Huck Finn dynamic as the boys get into trouble and eventually kicked out of school (one permanently . . . at thirteen!) darkens considerably by the second act and tragically in the third.  Something of a Mutt & Jeff pair physically, it’s the little blonde kid (Conner Chapman) taking lead position over docile friend Shaun Thomas when they spot copper-wire cable thieves and figure out how they can use the same system for their own gain.  There even looks to be a chance for hope in the setup since the scrapyard owner keeps workhorses for his metal scavengers and a racing horse (a trotter) for sport.  Something quiet Thomas has a knack for.  It proves a cause of positive attention Chapman views as a threat.  But this isn’t really where we’re heading as the main issue isn’t undiscovered talent or even social adjustment, but mental instability as Chapman is showing serious signs of pathological behavior, especially when he’s off his meds . . . and he’s always off his meds.  By the middle of the film we see where this is going; by the third act there’s really nothing to stop it.  Heartbreaking stuff, even if Barnard allows a few unlikely events to force tragedy on a story that’s already plenty dark.

DOUBLE-BILL/LINK:  *See the Dardennes’ THE KID WITH THE BIKE/’11, out two years before this.    https://maksquibs.blogspot.com/2016/12/le-gamin-au-velo-kid-with-bike-2011.html

SCREWY THOUGHT OF THE DAY: Both boys debuting non-pros: one not long for the biz/one still going strong.  That’s almost always the case with these duos: the blonde one dropping out of film while the dark-haired pal still actively employed.  Any reason behind this blonde/brunette disparity much debated.  The classic example going back to De Sica’s SHOESHINE/’46 where the sunny blonde kid never made another film while his darker, slightly older pal became screen great Franco Interlenghi, with over 100 credits over seven decades working with almost every famous Italian director of his day.