There comes a point in every father’s life when he asks the question, “when is it right to demonstrate to your son that you tacitly approve of unrealistic depictions of violence and death and overt womanising?” When you feel that time is nigh, the easiest way to show this is by watching a Bond movie.

I am, of course, being facetious. The Bond movies were an integral part of my growing up. My father loves them, I love them, it seems only right that I introduce my son to them which, to this point, I have not done. He is nine. Every time I previously thought of putting on a Bond movie, I considered the content and realised that I was a little uncomfortable with the relaxed attitude to death and murder, and the casual manner with which Bond treats women. Sure, we can see these things with a pinch of salt and an oh-it’s-of-it’s-time cavalier attitude, but to children taking everything at face value, it poses a dilemma: how is he going to process this, and how is my recommendation of it going to reflect on me?

Read More

Whether the weather is bad, the children are ill, or you just fancy staying in for once, here are my top choices for the forthcoming weekend.

E.T. The Extra Terrestrial
Saturday, 16 June, 3.45pm-6.00pm
ITV2

Classic Spielberg about a boy and a benevolent alien visitor with a penchant for Reese’s Pieces. Look out for a young Drew Barrymore, and a young Erika Eleniak.

Nanny McPhee
Saturday, 16 June, 6.00pm-8.00pm
ITV2

More than just a different spin on Mary Poppins, Nanny McPhee is a rather charming tale of naughty children who, through the careful discipline of the titular character, come to realise the errors of their ways. The sequel is almost better than this original, so definitely worth checking out.

Ladyhawke
Saturday, 16 June, 1.00pm-3.20pm
Film4

Richard Donner - who gave the world The Goonies, Superman, and The Omen (that last perhaps not for children…) - has fun with the fantasy world, in which Matthew Broderick stars alongside Michelle Pfeiffer (hello) and Rutger Hauer. It’s silly, and may have aged poorly, but it’s classic fantasy.

Last Action Hero
Sunday, 17 June, 1.30pm-3.50pm
Five

It may be fashionable to hate on this, but I love its silly charm. Schwarzenegger plays right into type, but the self-referential nature of the film gives it a lot of fun. It may be too clever-clever, but it never takes itself seriously.

On my “to see” pile for a long time, this French 34 minute live action short from 1956, directed by Albert Lamorisse (no, me either) is quite simply breathtakingly magical. Knowing it was French, and thus meant subtitles, had prevented me from putting it on before now. To all parents of children just learning to read: this film has about four lines of dialogue. They are well spaced out, and were no bother to either of my children. The rest is purely visual.

And what visuals there are. A young boy finds a balloon on his way to school, unties it, and takes it with him.  When he gets home at the end of the day, his mother throws it out of the window, but the balloon returns, and thus begins a wonderfully playful relationship with the boy. Blessed with a mind of its own, the balloon is anthropomorphized in a way that is redolent of other classic anthropomorphisms. Herbie in The Love Bug, or the magic carpet in Aladdin. Disney in particular does this well, but here there is a stripped back, raw beauty to the interplay between the balloon and the boy. The palette is nearly drained of colour, and so consequently the balloon is a bright ball of red that stands out as a circle of joy against the dour backing. 

The Red Balloon is about friendship, fantasy, and also of danger. It is a life lesson to children on the fleeting nature of existence, wrapped up in a 34 minute film about a balloon. That we come to care for this inanimate object in so short a time is indicative of the quality of film-making. I could watch this time and again and my children were entranced by the action, however minimal it may be. (Lots of walking, not a lot else.) A stand-out scene of great humour comes when the boy, holding the red balloon, meets a girl holding a blue balloon. The romantic to-and-fro between the two balloons is winningly endearing.

Dreamworks have climbed far since their early days as Pixar’s underdogs. OK, so they’re still Pixar’s underdogs, but their quality is coming close. Considering Pixar’s latest was the sub-par Cars 2 (still entertaining, in my book) this offering from Dreamworks is not only on a par with, but also better than some Pixar films now.

Hiccup is a Viking who does not act, look, behave, or feel like every other viking in the village. For a start, he appears to come from the Upper West Side of the Viking island, where everyone else comes from the Highlands. Shamed by his father, ridiculed by the other villagers, his handiwork in gadgets and gizmos goes unrewarded until he manages to snare and injure the prized Night Fury dragon. The dragons visit the village island frequently, stealing livestock and torching buildings. Killing dragons is a livelihood. But Hiccup finds a new way with his newfound friend he names Toothless (a misnomer if ever there was one).

The animation is filled with the usual messages - teamwork, daring to be different, success against the odds, overcoming fears, standing up for what you believe in, etc - but it does so with a flair, a style, and a wit that his hitherto been in short supply at Dreamworks. Pixar has a losing battle on its hands in that people expect excellence. Dreamworks, people expect adequacy, and when excellence is delivered - as it is here - it is doubly prized and double pleasurable.

Hedgehog in the Fog (Norshteyn, 1975)

So this week I decided to introduce my children to foreign language shorts with small amounts of subtitles. My daughter (nearly 7) is a fast reader, and my son (9) is a competent reader, but needs a kick up the bum sometimes, as most boys do. He loves film, ergo, reading subtitles might help. Anyway, it was a good excuse to try them with this 10 minute little marvel.

The story of a hedgehog, uh, in the fog (it’s nearly as obvious a title as this blog’s) is charmingly directed and animated by Yuriy Norshteyn. The hedgehog is on his way to meet bear, where they will eat raspberry jam and look at the stars. The innocence is palpable, so when the dog descends and hedgehog becomes lost, the terror is heightened. He sees dogs, owls, and horses, and they all seem far more unnerving than might otherwise be the case. Leaves falling are a horror.

The hedgehog at one point becomes resigned to his fate. He allows the river to take him where it will, unconcerned with his wellbeing. When he finally gets to bear, bear is frantic, talking extremely fast (the subtitles are similarly fast, proving a little problematic for the slower reader) but even not catching all his words, the intention and impact of his manner is not lessened.

Hedgehog in the Fog is only 11 minutes long, but crams a world of imagery into its slight running time. The layer collage animation style could be crude, but is charming. And the way it presents the world is transfixing. Hope, loss, humour, wonder, friendship, terror, resignation, relief. All these are present here and, for a short film to get across so much is a wonder to behold. For the young reader, this is an essential childhood film. Too early, and the child will be bored because they have to have the subtitles narrated.

So, I’m new around here.

I run a separate holistic-film-blog over at http://the24thframe.co.uk. I thought I’d try the simple confines of tumblr to look specifically at, well, films my children watch. 

My children are 9, and nearly 7. One boy, one girl. Between them they’ve watched hundreds of films, not just modern Disney and Pixar animation (although that does figure heavily: I’m not a miracle worker) but also classic animation, silent comedies, and I’ve just started branching out into foreign language shorts that actually have honest-to-blog subtitles.

It is this new-found ability to cope with a small amount of subtitles that has inspired me to start this blog. With a backlog of classic films already viewed by my children to talk about, and a literal world of cinema awaits them, this blog should be rich on content that is both expected - new cinema releases - and unexpected - short films from places like Russia and the Czech Republic.

Obviously every child is different - and aren’t we glad about that? - but I reckon, modestly, that between my film knowledge, and my children’s reactions to films, together we can give a good idea of how child-friendly a film is. I’m not here to rate a film on parental content: there are websites out there that will give you a blow-by-blow on what is and isn’t suitable for your child, whether you agree with them or not. I will happily let my children watch some certificate 12 films, because I know my children and I know the film. (Indy 4, yes: The Dark Knight, hell no.) Your children will react differently, of course. What I can do is give an impression of a film from my perspective, and my children’s perceived reactions, and review accordingly.

I hope FMCW is a success…