Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Boy A




I think its been a long time since i did a movie post. But having just watched Boy A, it deserves my effort. And given that I just finished a major competition and taking a break, i'm in the mood for some writing.

Boy A is the term used to address a child killer who under went rehab and is now trying his best to adjust back to the society. The irony is, often or not, you can't just pretend to leave ur past and unfortunately, you just can't live with lying to yourself. Sadly, life does not start afresh for Jack even when he is given a new identity or having done a heroic deed. In the end, what he had done catches back to him and he had to face the sadness of life.

Boy A won 5 wins and 7 nominations. The plot is simple, but the power lies in the excellent simple directorial devices and cinematography. The story is told in a series of flashback that ties the present to the past in subtle metaphors. The camera leads and plays up the audience's emotions just by the composition alone. The last european film that I can conjure up to compare the camera asethetics may be the diving bell and the butterfly, however, instead of banging on saturated visuals, Boy A replies simply on timely pauses and loads of white space. Due credit have to be given to the lead actor andrew garfield for potraying his helplessness and how sometimes innocence is no match for the winds of destiny.

Throughout the show, a familiar scent jolts my memory, but no matter how hard I try to find the familar source, i know its no longer there. I think Boy A does the same visually. It makes one appreciate the innocence of living and how simple things like being loved are taken for granted compared to Jack who had that deprived for his whole lifetime. A truly touching show in that memorable evening.

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