Storm Boy (2019)

☆ ☆ ☆

Storm Boy (2019) – S. Seet

The local council organised this film for a summer movie night in the park right next to our house (including a mobile petting zoo, popcorn and snags, free face-painting and various games).  So, Amon and I strolled over (it was a cold evening, so later I ran back to the house, in about a minute, and got blankets and pillows for us).  The film is an adaptation of Colin Thiele’s 1963 book, which Aito’s teacher read to him in third grade (it was also filmed earlier in 1976).  The basic story is about a boy who raises three pelicans whose mother has been killed by a hunter and forms a special bond with them.  Like the best children’s fiction, there are important adult elements here – the boy (Finn Little) has lost his mother and sister in a car accident and his father has sought to isolate himself in a rural part of South Australia (90 Mile Beach).  So, how best to cope with grief is part of the story here (esp. because, well, you know, pelicans don’t live forever).  Fit for 2019, a framing device shows businessman Geoffrey Rush (the boy all grown up to be a grandfather) having a change of heart about his company’s destructive environmental policies after being encouraged by his granddaughter (and reminiscing about the past – the actual story).  Although the framing device was a bit confusing for Amon (as were the scenes that showed both Rush and Little in the same shot), he was totally absorbed by the pelican actors (mostly not CGI) and their adventures – and he cried at the end.  Yes, it’s a tearjerker.  I suspect that films like this, when seen at a certain age, remain in one’s heart for a long time – and perhaps children’s films need to be judged by an entirely different rating scale based on the impact they unquestionably have, despite any technical flaws.  I’m sure you have your own list of influential and memorable kids films – mine are all from the 1970s – but I’m not sure they bear rewatching.