Glasgow Youth Film Festival: Boy

Nostalgia is pretty low hanging fruit; after all, evoking the past’s warm glow can be as simple as humming the Dogtanian theme-tune or bemoaning the inflated price of Chomps. For New Zealand’s Taika Waititi, childhood nostalgia takes the form of Michael Jackson, Dallas (the name of the title character’s cousin; her sisters are Dynasty and Falcon Crest), Michael Jackson, ice-pops and more Michael Jackson (most winningly evoked in an end-credits haka-Thriller fusion). Luckily, nostalgia isn’t the sole influence driving this sweet, biographical tale of misplaced admiration, puppy love and other coming-of-age staples.

Tone-wise, Son of Rambow is a close cousin, and this comparison is underscored by playful childs-eye-view animated interjections. The film’s greatest asset, however, is the director’s performance as the protagonist’s deadbeat dad.  Expertly treading the line between two-dimensional goofball and sad clown, his scenes with eleven year-old Boy (James Rolleston, delivering the film’s other standout performance) are satisfyingly poignant. Beneath its period trappings, Boy’s tale is both broadly amusing and delicately moving.