Le géant égoïste

I saw this film at the Leiden film festival (LIFF) 2013. Two main characters Arbor (13 years old) and Swifty (15 years old), both played by unexperienced actors, make this movie rise above the story that in itself is not that spectacular, though the authors certainly intended it as social commentary. The working class environment, the poor neighborhood, the shady business where these two boys get themselves involved in, many people living together in small houses, and so on, it all provides for the perfect context to explain why these people do what they do. The only silver lining in this story is that Swifty proves to Kitten that he has his way with horses, and thus is allowed to prepare his best horse for the races. The remainder is depressing all over, but nevertheless a must-see, if only to observe a way of living that is insufficiently covered in newspapers and magazines.