Robert Withers <[log in to unmask]> writes: > At the risk of starting one of those annoying endless strings of > film-title messages, I'd like to ask for help in thinking of a certain > kind of film that I might use in my "Film for Education Majors" course at > Brooklyn College. "The Four Hundred Blows" was a landmark film not > only because the freshness of its style and personal nature, but because > it presented a compelling, realistic look at the real-life problems and > experiences of a young person. There was humor, but also emotional > brutality, and a sense of longing for something better. But it's a > little remote, in time and culture, from my students at Brooklyn in the > '90s. I'm trying to think of American (or maybe British or Irish, though > that's another whole kettle of fish) films that show kids or young people > confronting serious real-life problems, not "movie-genre" problems like > in "True Grit" or "Home Alone." I'm thinking of films maybe like "Out of > the Blue," or perhaps "Sounder," but I can't think of too many. I'm > interested in films where the child is a central character, and the film > conveys the child's point of view, not just films where children are > supporting characters and suffer. There are some films I haven't > seen or haven't seen in a long while that maybe fit the bill, such as "To > Kill a Mockingbird," "The Quiet One," and "The Learning Tree." "My Girl" > was an interesting recent film about a young girl dealing with issues of > self-esteem, parental love-life, and death. I'll be happy to > collect responses and repost, if you want to respond directly to my > e-mail address -- [log in to unmask] -- [log in to unmask] - - but of > course many on this list like to go public. Consider HBO's THE REAL WORLD?; it's hokey psuedo-documentary, but it may come closer to what the kids identify with (and what you want) than the slicker stuff. - *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** P.J. O'Connell 814-865-3333 (O) Penn State University 814-865-3145 (F) 205 Wagner Bldg. [log in to unmask] (Inet) University Park, PA 16802 76520,1360 (CIS) ******* "Go fast; take chances." ********