2013: The Selfish Giant (76th)

What else happened this year? According to the internet, ‘twerking’ became a thing, and the Boston Marathon was bombed. So many memories... 

What is the plot - in one sentence? We follow a young, impoverished boy around Yorkshire as he is expelled from school and looks to make ‘his fortune’ in copper wire theft. 

I don't have time, just spoil it for me? He gets into a debt with a local scrap dealer, and is forced to collect some copper wiring from a dangerous site. A shock kills his only friend, and he mourns him until that kids mother comes along. 

What is the meaning of the title? It’s apparently take from an Oscar Wilde short story , where a giant locks off his garden and invites the winter in, and then relents when the kids of the area throw a wobbly. It doesn’t really apply here 

This is a contemporary movie. This is from when they are stealing copper from a power plant. There's also a visible mouse clicker in this picture, which someone cooler than I would have changed.

Anything that's not aged well? Does a woman get slapped around? There’s no slapping, but the threat of violence hangs around EVERYWHERE, particularly in the friends house. This was a grim movie. 

Any thoughts? The main kid, who is named Arbor, is a a ritalin-fed ADHD kid, and he’s the biggest annoyance of all time. We all know someone like that from school, and they’re all working in copper wire now, and all forcing the police to take their shoes off when they come over. 

 Despite that, it’s a tragic movie. His family life is grim, he’s got a single mum, a drug addicted brother, and his friend is part of a clan under the grim leadership of a pale junkie. This friend is a more tragic figure, he’s got a grim future, but has a link to animals that suggests a way out, but his misplaced loyalty to Arbor gets him killed. 

Would you recommend this? Pretty grim stuff, I’ll give you that. Poverty porn? Yes, but there’s a scene where they race a couple of horses along a main road, with cars crashing into each other, and it’s pretty awesome in a terrifying way. This was a bit of a peek into a life that I wouldn’t have expected to see. 

Final thoughts? Is there much money in scrap metal? There’s definitely money in copper, but what a grim way to make a living. 

 The sound from the wire which killed his friend was really cool: it was a very deep hum which I replayed a couple of times because I liked it. 

There’s seemingly some debate about whether or not Arbor killed that foal deliberately (it had led to a huge falling out between the friends in the first place) – I’ll say yes, he was jealous and had a history of violence and lashing out.

 Here we go, 76 down. The other 75 can be found right here! RIGHT HERE!