Little Men (2016)
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | Little men |
| Original title | Little men |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language |
English , Spanish |
| Publishing year | 2016 |
| length | 85 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 0 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Ira Sachs |
| script | Ira Sachs, Mauricio Zacharias |
| production | Ira Sachs, Lucas Joaquin , Christos V. Konstantakopoulos , Jim Lande , LA Teodosio |
| music | Dickon Hinchliffe |
| camera | Óscar Durán |
| cut |
Mollie Goldstein , Affonso Gonçalves |
| occupation | |
| |
Little Men is an American drama by Ira Sachs that premiered on January 25, 2016 as part of the Sundance Film Festival and was presented at the Berlinale from February 13, 2016 in the Generation Kplus section. The film was released in US cinemas on August 5, 2016. The film tells of the influence of changes in New York's urban structure on relationships between people, and it is the director's third feature film.
action
It's summer in New York when Jake Jardine moves with his parents into the two-story house of their late grandfather in Brooklyn , leaving his old school and friends in Manhattan behind. His father Brian, who grew up in this house and inherited it with his sister Audrey, is a moderately successful actor and Jake's mother, Kathy, is an ambitious psychologist. Jake meets Tony Calvelli, who is the same age and whose mother Leonor has rented the shop on the ground floor of the house they moved into and runs a boutique there. Leonor is a long-time tenant, and Jake's late grandfather Max was good friends with her because she made him forget his loneliness a little with her cordial manner. So he only asked her to pay a low rent for the shop.
Jake and Tony, who also attend the same school, quickly become best friends and pass the afternoons with walks and conversations on the busy streets and in the park, and also spend a lot of time together at the game console. Jake is a rather slim and handsome, but in many ways awkward teenager, while Tony is a confident, extroverted and charismatic boy and the class clown at school. Nevertheless, the two 13-year-olds quickly discovered their common interest in art and girls, and so they not only dream of switching to the renowned LaGuardia High School in autumn, but also try their first flirtatious attempts together during one of their forays to a disco. Tony would like to start studying acting, Jake is more of an introvert and wants to be a painter, and both of them support each other in making their dreams come true.
The youthful idyll is soon overshadowed by the increasing tensions between Jake's parents and Theo's mother, because Brian and Kathy have realized that they could earn more money with the boutique on the first floor because Leonor pays only a small rent. They want to triple the rent, which leads to a heated argument. Jake and Tony, whose vocabulary did not yet include social stratification , have to recognize that the gentrification of the neighborhood that Jake's parents are promoting with this demand also has its disadvantages, and so they don't just have to ally themselves with the other guys in the neighborhood , but also to do something about their parents' rent dispute, which they get more and more into and which threatens to break their friendship. They choose a very idiosyncratic protest and don't speak to their parents anymore. But the decision has been made and Leonor has to vacate the shop.
Time flies. While visiting a museum with a group of art students, Jake sees Tony from a distance with friends from his previous school. But he doesn't make any contact, instead concentrating, as his father advised him, on his painting.
production
Staff and cast
The direction was taken over by Ira Sachs , who wrote the screenplay for the film together with Mauricio Zacharias . Sachs said that while Little Men is not an autobiographical film, he did use his knowledge of New York and his own experiences. His husband, Boris Torres, moved with his mother from Ecuador to New York when he was ten years old and later studied there at Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School, which is also the aim of Jake and Tony in the film. He himself grew up in Memphis in the 1970s , where he worked in a youth theater whose ensemble was the most inclusive community he has ever belonged to and consisted of children and young people from different cultures and a mixture of gay and heterosexual workers and suburban children . About his special relationship with New York and the consequences of the gentrification observed there , Sachs said during the presentation of the film at the Berlinale “I'm interested in how people navigate between these challenges in everyday life. And on the other hand, my films are love letters to New York, to life there, to everything that is beautiful and precious and can be lost. "
The young actor Theo Taplitz took on the role of Jake Jardine, Jennifer Ehle and Greg Kinnear the roles of his parents Kathy and Brian. Talia Balsam plays his aunt Audrey. The role of Jake's new best friend Tony Calvelli was cast with Michael Barbieri , and that of his mother Leonor with Paulina García . Leonor's closest friend Hernan, who also works as a lawyer for her in the film, is played by Alfred Molina .
Filming
The shooting took place in the summer of 2015, mostly in the in Brooklyn lying areas Sunset Park , a traditional working-class neighborhood with a lively cultural scene, the Convention therein Bay Ridge area and in the north along the East River nearby Williamsburg instead. Leonor's boutique is on Graham Avenue there. The last scenes to be seen in the film were shot in the Brooklyn Museum .
Film music
The experimental musician Dickon Hinchliffe from the British band Tindersticks composed the music for the film. This, according to Vikram Murthi from IndieWire , underscores the director's empathy towards all of his characters and captures the complex emotions in the film.
Marketing and Publishing
At the end of August 2016, Michael Barbieri and Theo Taplitz , whose great desire in their roles in the film is to be trained as artists in New York, visited the Brooklyn Museum , where the last scenes to be seen in the film were shot.
The film premiered on January 25, 2016 as part of the Sundance Film Festival and was presented in the Generation Kplus section at the Berlinale from February 13, 2016 . The film was released in US cinemas on August 5, 2016. From September 9, 2016, the film was shown at the Deauville Film Festival as part of the competition and was awarded the main prize here. As part of the San Sebastián Film Festival , the film was also presented in September 2016 in the Pearls section and later at the Zurich Film Festival . From October 26, 2016, the film was shown at the Tokyo International Film Festival .
After the first trailer with German subtitles for the film was published in January 2017, Little Men is slated to hit German cinemas on March 2, 2017.
reception
Age rating
In Germany, the film was approved by the FSK without any age restriction. The statement of reasons for approval states: “The film uses the friendship story to address social differences and financial constraints. [...] Smaller children may not yet understand some aspects of the story, but because the film dispenses with any drastic elements and is characterized by a positive, constructive atmosphere that underlines both the friendship of the boys and the support in their families , there is no risk of impairment. "
Reviews
The film was able to convince 96 percent of the Rotten Tomatoes critics , making it one of the best-rated films of 2016.
The film has received critical acclaim for its humanistic approach. David Rooney of The Hollywood Reporter says it only appears to be a small film and kills you with its emotional authenticity.
Entertainment Weekly's Kevin P. Sullivan says the Sachs and Zacharias script takes the boys in the film seriously, doesn't show any condescension, and values the everyday miracles that happen in life, such as forgiveness and the love of a real friend. Silvia Hallensleben from Tagesspiegel thinks that Sachs used it to create a clever Romeo and Juliet variant about dressing up through family and material interests. Even if critics repeatedly speak of a kind of love affair between Jake and Tony, Howard Feinstein of Filmmaker Magazine explains that the two are clearly not a couple in the film, but rather describes the relationship as a bromance between young people.
Use in school lessons
Vision Kino , an initiative for film and media education in schools, sees a possible use of film in the subjects of geography, English, ethics and social studies . Laura Caterina Zimmermann says of the starting points for the educational work, the film offers the basis for a critical examination of the topics of gentrification and structural change in big cities: “The touching story of two families in Brooklyn raises moral questions and thus offers a personal approach to this otherwise rather boring, factually discussed topic of urban development. ”The analysis of the multifaceted, visual representation of the city could be a further starting point for educational work, said Zimmermann.
Awards
- Nomination for best film
- Award as Best Actor ( Theo Taplitz )
- Nomination for Best Supporting Actor ( Michael Barbieri )
- Nomination for Best Supporting Actress ( Paulina García )
- Nomination for Best Original Screenplay ( Mauricio Zacharias , Ira Sachs )
- Nomination as best ensemble
- Awarded the Deauville Grand Prize
Edinburgh International Film Festival 2016
- Nomination for the audience award (Ira Sachs)
Independent Spirit Awards 2016
- Nomination in the Best Screenplay category
- Nomination for Best Supporting Actress (Paulina García)
Berlin International Film Festival 2016
- Nomination as best feature film for the Transparent Bear in the Generation Kplus section (Ira Sachs)
- Nomination for Best Actor in a Feature Film in the Teen Actor category (Michael Barbieri)
- Nomination for Best Actor in a Feature Film in the Teen Actor category (Theo Taplitz)
Trivia
You can always read the street names in Sachs' films, and the name of the Caffe Capri across from Leonor's boutique on Graham Avenue can be recognized in the film. The café, which was run by Italian siblings from the 1970s, was later closed and, according to Sachs, not ousted by Starbucks .
Web links
- Little Men in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Official Film Website (English)
Individual evidence
- ^ Certificate of Release for Little Men . Voluntary self-regulation of the film industry (PDF; test number: 165548 / K).
- ↑ Mark Olsen: Ira Sachs' new film 'Little Men' mines big drama from seemingly small issues In: Los Angeles Times, August 13, 2016.
- ↑ a b c Ira Sachs in conversation with Jan Künemund: Berlinale director on New York. 'Nostalgia is boring' In: taz.de, February 17, 2016.
- ↑ a b c Howard Feinstein: Acting Out: Ira Sachs's Little Men In: filmmakermagazine.com, August 5, 2016.
- ↑ Little Men - A film by Ira Sachs In: jeanbooknerd.com. Retrieved August 20, 2016.
- ↑ Glenn Kenny: From 'A Tree Grows in Brooklyn' to 'Little Men': A Borough's Real Estate Crises, Onscreen In: The New York Times, August 3, 2016.
- ↑ a b Emma Allen: The Boys of 'The Little Men'. The new film's teen-age stars visit the Brooklyn Museum and talk art, sports, and gentrification In: newyorker.com, August 22, 2016.
- ↑ a b Vikram Murthi: 'Little Men': Listen To Original Score From Dickon Hinchliffe, Founding Member of The Tindersticks In: indiewire.com, August 3, 2016.
- ↑ Little Men In: berlinale.de. Accessed August 20, 2016 (PDF)
- ^ Competition In: festival-deauville.com. Retrieved September 11, 2016.
- ↑ Little Men In: sansebastianfestival.com. Retrieved August 31, 2016.
- ↑ Little Men In: zff.com. Retrieved September 28, 2016.
- ↑ Tokyo International Film Festival 2016 In: tiff-jp.net. Retrieved October 25, 2016.
- ↑ Woon-Mo Sung: 'Little Men': First German trailer for the touching 4-star drama by Ira Sachs In: filmstarts.de, January 18, 2017.
- ↑ Reason for approval for Little Men In: Voluntary Self-Control of the Film Industry. Retrieved March 2, 2017.
- ↑ Little Men In: Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved March 13, 2019.
- ↑ Top 100 Movies of 2016 In: Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved January 10, 2017.
- ↑ Eliza Berman: These Movies Were All Certified Fresh by Rotten Tomatoes in 2016 In: time.com, December 21, 2016.
- ↑ David Rooney, 'Little Men': Sundance Review In: The Hollywood Reporter, Jan. 26, 2016.
- ↑ Kevin P. Sullivan: Little Men: EW review In: Entertainment Weekly, Aug. 4, 2016.
- ↑ Silvia Hallensleben: Sensitive men at the Berlinale. Primal scream in no man's land In: Der Tagesspiegel, February 11, 2016.
- ↑ Little Men. In: visionkino.de. Retrieved January 20, 2019.
- ↑ Rhonda Richford: Ira Sachs, '' Little Men 'Takes Top Prize at Deauville Film Festival In: The Hollywood Reporter, September 10, 2016.
- ↑ Moonlight and American Honey lead Film Independent Spirit awards nominations In: The Guardian, November 22, 2016.
- ↑ 2017 Nominations In: youngartistawards.org. Retrieved March 25, 2017.
- ↑ Caffe Capri's Sarah Devita And Joe Rinaldi Refreshingly Not 'Tres Brooklyn', Still Serve Great Iced Coffee In: The Huffington Post, June 26, 2012.