An official selection at the Cannes Film Festival The Selfish Giant is a contemporary fable about 13 year old Arbor (Conner Chapman) and his best friend Swifty (Shaun Thomas). Excluded from school and outsiders in their own neighborhood the two boys meet Kitten (Sean Gilder) a local scrap dealer. Wandering their town with just a horse and a cart they begin collecting scrap metal for him. Swifty has a natural gift with horses while Arbor emulates Kitten - keen to impress him and make some money. However Kitten favors Swifty leaving Arbor feeling hurt and excluded driving a wedge between the boys. As Arbor becomes increasingly greedy and exploitative tensions build leading to a tragic event that transforms them all.
Review
This film is stunning a visually powerful glimpse into a savage precarious world with humour and tenderness.
It can't just be reduced to a political diatribe although the postindustrial setting is bleak and the poverty grinding. Mainly it's the story of a young lad's struggle towards adulthood ahead of his time and in tough circumstances as he learns the hard way what it is to be a grownup.
The echoes of 'Kes' are obvious but with the destruction of that old industrial world the characters too are ambiguous and troubled. Arbor is a complex mix of ruthlessness cheekiness and wit. We see his character develop from being a cocky little tawt to something altogether more complicated and touching...