5 Films - With Cinema's Most Memorable Kids

Antoine Doinel, 400 Blows (1959)

 

 

This Francois Truffaut film was one of the founding films of the French new-wave movement in cinema and is a landmark in the history of world cinema. Starring Jean-Pierre Leaud as Antoine Doinel, 400 Blows tells the story of a misunderstood adolescent, who is labeled as a problem child by his parents and teachers. Truffaut realistically captures a troubled childhood in a narrative so elegant that has inspired generations of filmmakers that followed. The unassuming treatment and the new-wave style of performance is what makes the boy’s story different from other mundane struggles. Leaud’s portrayal of the disturbed boy in his early teens received laurels and praises wherever the film went.

The Kid, The Kid (1921)

 

 

One of Charlie Chaplin’s finest films, The Kid was described in the opening titles as ‘A comedy with a smile – and perhaps a tear’. The film tells a complex story of human relationship when a street urchin finds an abandoned child and cares for him. The kid, too, grows fond of the man and they form a great bond but the situations that arise jeopardizes their relationship. Jackie Coogan, who played the child in the film, soon became a household name and the silent film sent out a message which was received all over the world. Charlie Chaplin’s classic has immortalised the little boy in our minds forever.

Apu, Apu Trilogy (1955-1959)

 

 

Indian cinema’s first franchise based on Bhibhutibhushan Bandopadhyay’s stories were appreciated globally for being so deeply rooted in Indian culture. The films, Pather Panchali (1955), Aparajito (1956) and Apur Sansar (1959) traced the journey of a boy, Apu, from being a small innocent boy in rural Bengal to becoming a man who has experienced life and all its tragedies. Visually stimulating and simplistic in its approach, Apu represents a set of images that define a culture, a setting and a way of life. Subir Bannerjee plays the little boy in the first two films and is perhaps Indian cinema’s first internationally renowned icon, created by perhaps India’s greatest filmmaker.

Bruno Ricci, The Bicycle Thieves (1948)

 

 

Set in post-war Italy, Vittorio De Sica’s Ladri di Biciclette (original title) is a landmark film of the neo-realist genre. The stark poverty, the desperation and the sheer despair that was shared by an entire nation is portrayed through a simple story of a father-son who are looking for their stolen bicycle in the city. One of the finest films ever made, The Bicycle Thieves explores the angst of a poor man, Antonio Ricci, who looks for something lost along with his kid, Bruno. The kid, played by Enzo Staiola, has rendered the film an added class with his expressions and controlled silences. The boy takes us through being curious, anxious to downright disillusioned while still holding on to his innocence.

Ali and Zahra, Children of Heaven (1997)

 

 

Majid Majidi’s most renowned film, Children of Heaven is the best prototype of modern Iranian cinema. It tells a subtle tale of a brother and sister who enter an agreement of sharing a pair of shoes since one of them loses the other one’s shoes. The scenarios follow a usual course of events where life itself provides all the drama that is required in the narrative. The kids, Ali and Zahra, played by Amer Hashemian and Bahare Seddiqi are a genuine epitome of cuteness and innocence. Their on-screen brother-sister bond will bring back memories of your childhood if you had a sibling.

Published in DNA After Hrs (Pune) on November 16, 2012