berenshill

A film about love and loss. A mother's love for her son, a bit like the director's later film "Mical". This is about what isn't seen on the screen, the nuances are all there if you look for them. Credit must go to the director and actors for the perfomances, and to everyone for the ladt scene. Sublime.

I missed this film when it was shown as part of Mark Cousins' The Cinema of Childhood. Now five years later, I finally got to see it. It did not disappoint. A group of children in German occupied Albania fight back against their oppressors by helping the partisan resistance. That's the plot, but the film is also about the friendship and camaraderie both among the children and the people of the town. But there's also a joy and dare I say it fun to the picture as well. The film is shot always from the child's perspective. As such it is entirely believable. Hugely enjoyable, nothing intrinsically nasty (we're talking Nazis here but there's no violence seen on screen) and the sort of film children the same age as the protagonists should enjoy immensely.