Giant Little Ones

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Movie
Original title Giant Little Ones
Country of production Canada
original language English
Publishing year 2018
length 93 minutes
Age rating FSK 12
Rod
Director Keith Behrman
script Keith Behrman
production Allison Black
music Michael Brook
camera Guy Godfree
cut Sandy Pereira
occupation

Giant Little Ones is a film drama directed by Keith Behrman that premiered on September 9, 2018 at the Toronto International Film Festival and was released in US theaters on March 1, 2019.

action

16-year-old Franky Winter and best friend Ballas Kohl attend the same high school and are both on the school's swim team. Franky is dating Priscilla, the prettiest girl in school. He is reluctant to have sex with her, however, also because he notices that he is not sexually attracted to her, which the nice boy does not want to tell her. The two friends spend their days cycling around town boasting about their girlfriends. Ballas and his girlfriend Jess already had sex. Priscilla tries to move things forward and wants to give Franky his first gift on his 17th birthday, but things turn out differently. On the night of Franky's birthday, he had drunk oral sex in the dark with his best friend.

It doesn't take long before Ballas claims that Franky took advantage of him and seduced him into sex. The lie spreads like wildfire around the school, and with it rumors about Franky's sexual orientation. He is bullied and beaten up by members of his swimming team. Franky tries to get in touch with his father Ray again. He had left his mother Carly for a man. While this seems fine with her, despite his mother's request to speak to his father, Franky had no contact with him. Another important confidante becomes Natasha, Balla's sister, whose sexual orientation is also rumored. After Franky learns that Natasha has been abused, which is why she cannot have sex with him for the time being, he reacts understandingly. Natasha's father Nic reminds Franky that he should treat his daughter with the utmost care about what happened.

Franky finds out that Ballas initiated things and that his first sexual experience was nothing real. All of the years of their close friendship suddenly seem like they were extinguished.

production

Josh Wiggins , here at the screening of Walking Out at the 2017 South by Southwest Film Festival , played Franky Winter in the film

Keith Behrman directed the film and wrote the script. One of his reasons for making the film was a series of youth suicides in Canada a few years earlier, just before the " It Gets Better " campaign began.

Josh Wiggins played the leading role of Franky Winter . The actress Maria Bello , who is also one of the producers of the film, plays his mother Carly, Kyle MacLachlan plays his father Ray. Darren Mann can be seen in the role of Ballas Kohl, whose sister Natasha plays Taylor Hickson . Hailey Kittle can be seen in the role of Franky's friend Priscilla, Kiandra Madeira plays Balla's friend Jess. Carson MacCormac plays Michael, a colleague from Franky's swimming team. Franky's pal Mouse is played by actress Niamh Wilson .

The film was shot in Sault Ste. Marie turned. Guy Godfree acted as cameraman .

Michael Brook composed the film music . The soundtrack was released on March 15, 2019 by Lakeshore Records.

The film was shown for the first time on September 9, 2018 as part of the Toronto International Film Festival . In January 2019, it was presented at the Palm Springs International Film Festival . The cinema release in the USA took place on March 1st, 2019. The German premiere was planned for March 27th, 2019 as part of the Queer Striped Film Festival. In August 2019 it was shown as part of the Munich Film Art Weeks , as well as at the queer film festival .

The film has been available in Germany on DVD, Blu-ray and digitally since March 27, 2020. In the German dubbing , Felix Auer lends his voice to the protagonist Franky, while his father Ray and mother Carly are voiced by Thomas Wenke and Claudia Urbschat-Mingues .

reception

Reviews

So far, the film has won over 93 percent of all Rotten Tomatoes critics and received an average rating of 7.4 out of a possible 10 points.

Boyd van Hoeij of The Hollywood Reporter writes that the beautifully constructed story moves beyond the stereotypes of the genre by exploring how the millennial generation experiences sexuality, bullying and growing up. The film also shows that parenting means giving children space and letting them go. However, some of the dialogues seemed awkward, according to Franky's conversations with Mouse.

Derek Smith of Slant Magazine says that by showing the different reactions Franky and Ballas have to their sexual experience together, the film gives a more nuanced understanding of expectations about sexuality. Giant Little Ones shows even more clearly how queer people react to the pressure that comes with finding a sexual identity, be it Balla's macho attitudes, Ray's patience and tenderness, Mouse's bitter humor or Franky's constant insecurity. This is how an authentic and versatile portrait of young people and their sexuality can be created.

Roger Ebert critic Matt Fagerholm writes that Balla's instinctive decision to turn against Connor and strike speaks volumes about his self-loathing. Most amazing and refreshing is the erotic connection between Franky and Natasha, which blurs all common constructs with regard to his orientation. The film stands by the fact that some broken relationships may never be repaired, but at the same time shows how its heroes can not only forgive, but also learn to accept themselves. Fagerholm believes that after watching the film, many young people will feel relieved of a huge burden as the stigma that limits them in their self-actualization begins to dissipate.

Use in school lessons

The online portal kinofenster.de recommends the film from year 9 onwards for the subjects biology, ethics, social studies / community studies, psychology and English and offers materials for the film for teaching purposes. There it says, among other things, that the central, but almost incidental depiction of various forms of queerness, sexuality and also sexual violence in the secondary lines is contemporary and therefore an ideal starting point for conversations with young people.

Web links

Commons : Giant Little Ones  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Release certificate for Giant Little Ones . Voluntary self-regulation of the film industry (PDF; test number: 193939 / K). Template: FSK / maintenance / type not set and Par. 1 longer than 4 characters
  2. ↑ a b Alex Heeney: 'I wanted the film to be like a pop song': Keith Behrman on Giant Little Ones. In: seventh-row.com, March 29, 2019.
  3. ↑ a b c Boyd van Hoeij: 'Giant Little Ones': Film Review. In: The Hollywood Reporter, 2018.
  4. ↑ a b Matt Fagerholm: Giant Little Ones. In: rogerebert.com, March 1, 2019.
  5. ↑ 'Giant Little Ones' soundtrack details. filmmusicreporter.com. March 1, 2019, accessed March 3, 2019.
  6. ↑ Giant Little Ones In: psfilmfest.org. Retrieved March 3, 2019.
  7. ↑ Giant Little Ones. In: queergeststreifen.com. Retrieved March 3, 2019.
  8. ↑ Filmkunstwochen Mücnhen - program booklet. In: filmkunstwochen-muenchen.de. Retrieved on September 3, 2019 (PDF; 1.4 MB)
  9. ↑ queer film festival. In: www.queerfilmfestival.net/2019/07/giant-little-ones. Retrieved September 5, 2019.
  10. ↑ Coming-of-Age-Drama "Giant Little Ones" from March 27, 2020 on Blu-ray Disc. In: bluray-disc.de, January 3, 2020.
  11. ↑ Giant Little Ones. In: Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved October 16, 2019. Note: The Tomatometer at Rotten Tomatoes shows what percentage of the registered critics gave the film a positive rating.
  12. ↑ Derek Smith: Review: Giant Little Ones Understandings the Complexities of Sexual Desire. In: slantmagazine.com, February 25, 2019.
  13. ↑ Hanna Schneider: Giant Little Ones. In: kinofenster.de, April 6, 2020.