Le nouveau

One of 2007's nominees for Best Live Action Short Film depicts the struggles of a new student from an unidentified country in Africa to adjust to school in Ireland. The movie shows the contrast between his school life in his native country (very talkative until tragedy strikes) and his school life in Ireland, where the other students tease him, causing him not to talk much. I wouldn't call "New Boy" a masterpiece, but I liked the contrast that it showed. I guess that the different treatment of him by different students in Ireland was sort of a cliché, but the movie plays it out well. Although I haven't read any of Roddy Doyle's work, I've liked the film adaptations of his work that I've seen (aside from this one, there's "The Commitments", "The Snapper" and "The Van"). Worth seeing.