Loosely based on an Oscar Wilde short story, this low budget British telling has arrived in cinemas to much critical acclaim. Newcomers Conner Chapman and Shaun Thomas play Arbor and Swifty, 2 boys living in impoverished circumstances in Bradford. Alienated at school, they drift into a life of collecting scrap metal and stealing cable for a local scrap merchant, Kitten (Shaun Gilder).
Selfish Giant is directed by one of the hottest new talents in British film, Clio Barnard. Plenty of comparisons have been made to the work of Ken Loach, and the films Kes and Sweet Sixteen in particular, because of the uncompromising view of working class life, and the use of non professional child actors. However, unlike in Loach’s films, in the early part of Selfish Giant I found it hard to warm to either of the boys.
Arbor in particular was so unpleasant and disrespectful to his family and teachers that I felt detached from his plight. It was only with a key scene about half way through the film when he comforts his distraught Mum that I began to see the human side of Arbor. His reaction to a catastrophic event much later in the film will bring a lump to the throat of even the most hard hearted person.
Increasingly involving as the plot unfolds, this is a tough, funny and ultimately heartbreaking look at life in northern England. Chapman and Thomas deliver believable performances and are well supported by the more experienced Gilder, as well as Steve Evets and Siobhan Fillerman as Swifty’s parents.