IndieFest Selection YOU’LL BE A MAN reviewed
Another great review by George Heymont, this one for IndieFest 2014 selection YOU’LL BE A MAN:
“Benoit Cohen’s exquisitely layered film, You’ll Be A Man, is full of surprises.”
“There are times when You’ll Be A Man can easily make one think of 1971’s Harold and Maude. As the filmmaker (whose son portrays Leo and whose companion portrays Leo’s mother) explains:
“I wanted to show this very special time of the transition from childhood to adolescence, when a child is about to take that first step that will lead to adulthood. It is a magical moment — a mixture of childish emotions, very tactile relations, and reactions that can sometimes resemble those of adults, but are not yet polluted by fear or doubt. I was excited by what Jules brought to the character of Theo. His duet with Aurélio not only surprised me, I found that, for someone who had never been in front of a camera, he exuded a grace and poetry that exceeded my expectations.”
“Sensing Leo’s reluctance to have any kind of supervision, the boy and man-boy agree to leave each other alone. Young and impetuous, Theo’s irrepressible personality soon starts to break down the family’s emotional barriers. First, Theo finds a way into Leo’s heart through the boy’s imagination. Then he discovers Leo’s mother and starts to breathe life back into her as well. Unfortunately, Leo’s father remains emotionally unavailable to his wife, to his child, and is easily threatened by Theo’s ability to engage in games of make believe.”
Read the rest: http://myculturallandscape.blogspot.com/2014/01/questionable-role-models.html
