"When Beckham Met Owen" is a coming of age story from China. It tells the tail of 3 friends, Michael, David, and Winnie. The main focus is the friendship between Michael and David. Complicated on many levels, and throughly adolescent throughout, it hits a snag when Michael realizes that he is gay.
The actors portray characters ages 12 & 13, and amazingly enough--they themselves are 12 & 13. And that's the real charm of this beautiful film; although it's about very adult issues, it never forgets that it's young teens who are telling the tale. Their silliness, their pre-occupation with sex in a prankish way, their willingness to take risks, their deeply felt emotions that are show in their actions even though they haven't the words to explain themselves to one another or adults. The writer is to be highly commended, and Adam Wong makes a powerful impression with this, his feature film debut.
The shots are well planned, at times arranged like a well produced music video. Wong takes full advantage of time and setting to punctuate the ideas with metaphor. This was simply a delightful find.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment