Children's Express reviewers report from Cinemagic, the World Screen Festival for Young People in Belfast.
| The great thing about Yellow Card was it avoided talking down to the audience. |
Yellow Card
Directed by John Riber
The first thing to be said about the Zimbabwean football drama Yellow Card is, there isn't much football involved.
Luckily this doesn't take away from the strong story-line, which focuses on the upheavals of Tiyane, the rising star of the township football team. Tiyane's dreams to play for Manchester United are shattered when he fathers a child. The story leads us through the young man's dilemma of living up to responsibilities or pursuing his football career.
The great thing about Yellow Card was it avoided talking down to the audience said Conor Scullion (14): "The issues of pregnancy and responsibility were dealt with sensitively. You never really got the impression the director was telling you, 'you should do this'."
Yellow Card also deals with other hard-hitting social issues. One element of the story sees Tiyane's best friend contract HIV. Such scenes demanded much from the young actors but Paul McAteer (14) didn't feel convinced by their performances: "The acting really let the script down. The adult actors came across as real people but the children didn't."
"For instance, when Tiyane found out that he was to be a father, he didn't even register any shock at all. It was like someone had just told him it might rain today," he added.
Sheena Hall (14) felt the poor quality of acting made the film less enjoyable overall: "The film only lasted ninety minutes but it really dragged on and I couldn't wait for it to be over," she said.
Review by
Paul McAteer (14), Connor Scullion (14) and Sheena Hall (14).
Emil and The Detectives
Directed by Franziska Buch
Twelve-year-old Emil falls on hard times at home; his mother has left and his father has lost his job. On his birthday things begin to look up, when his mother gives him some money and his dad gets another job. But the luck is short-lived when his father is injured in a car crash and Emil is sent to stay in Berlin. On the train to Berlin, Emil runs into a con-man, who steals all his money. Penniless and alone, Emil decides to follow the con-man, when he runs into Pony, a cute girl around his age that offers to help him out. She whistles and is suddenly surrounded by a whole pile of children, known as the detectives.
The detectives are a gang of young people, who all have problems at home; one child's parents are about to divorce, another comes from such a large family that he gets no attention at all. A series of adventures lead Emil and the detectives all over the city until eventually they help police to capture the evil thief, receive a reward and Emil returns to live with his father.
"The film is about kid-power," said Andrew Bailie (13). "Despite all the problems each detective has at home when they are together they become strong and can solve any problem."
Amy Magowan Greene (12) agrees: "I loved the characters and I liked the idea that they were able to outwit the grown-ups," she said.
Johnny Clarke (12) said he enjoyed the film and was not put off by the fact that it was in German. "Sometimes the subtitles were difficult to see especially if the background was white like the words."
"The camera work was excellent, particularly during a chase scene, when Emil is running away from the police through Berlin; it keeps you involved and you wonder is he really going to get away," he added.
Review by
Johnny Clarke (12), Amy Magowan-Greene (12) and Andrew Bailey (13)
Mad about Mambo
Directed by John Forte
Mad about Mambo is an excellent comedy and a definite must see for teenagers. It is about Danny, a young Catholic boy, whose ambition is to join the famous Belfast United football team. However, religion is a major problem because the team is Protestant. He is given some hope though when the team signs up a Catholic Brazilian striker. During a press interview, the Brazilian striker reveals that Latin American dancing helped improve his football skills. Danny immediately decides to join a dance class, where he meets the beautiful Lucy, who is a well-heeled Protestant girl from the leafy middle-class avenues of Belfast.
Poor Catholic boy falls for rich Protestant girl might make older movie-goers wince but Director John Forte doused the entire film with enough humour and realism to make it all work together.
"I liked the way they mixed people from different religions together because you don't really see that out on the streets," said Kirsty McClenaghan, 12. She added, "the film was upbeat and made me feel good."
"The atmosphere in the cinema was great because the whole audience laughed together at the funny moments," Andrew Bailie, 13 said. "The music and dancing were brilliant and you can't help wanting to get involved in it yourself. It is really very good and I would go and see it over again," said Emma Orr, 12.
In a previous interview, Forte told Children's Express that he only shot scenes while the sun shone. Interestingly, although the film was set in Belfast it was shot in Dublin, with a few images, such as City Hall put into the final cut.
Forte said that his crew were reluctant to work in Belfast because of ongoing political trouble.
Review by
Kirsty McClenaghan, 12, Andrew Bailie, 13 and Emma Orr, 12
Through a blue lens
Directed by Veronica Mannix
Through a blue lens focused on police working with hard-core drug addicts living on the back streets of Vancouver's downtown east-side. Police officers made the film under the direction of Veronica Mannix.
"You got the feeling the movie was meant to shock you so much that you would never even think about taking drugs," said Chris McCartney, 16. "It is a grim story line showing a hard-hitting problem on the streets of Vancouver but still it was nothing new and I was bored by it," said Hugo.
Hugo felt that the documentary followed a stereotypical story-line - inside view of drug addicts life - them doing drugs - then them inside a rehab unit or continuing to do drugs. Chris disagreed. The movie was not only about drug addicts it also looked at how the police work and how relationships actually develop between the officers and the addicts.
"I liked that level of detail. It showed you the addicts actually taking the drugs but it also showed you how the police were being emotionally affected by the job," Chris added. The camera angles reflected the tired story-line, Hugo said: "The cameraman must have put it on his shoulder and not moved it. I thought that the crew had some really good opportunities to experiment with the camera angles."
"There were one or two feeble attempts to look through the addicts eyes using different coloured lens and slower speeds but it just ended up looking amateurish," he added.
Review by
Chris McCartney, 16 and Hugo McIlveen, 15
These reviews were published on the Cinemagic website.
