Review – A Boy, A Man and A Kite

A BOY A MAN AND A KITE: A harshly beautiful short film about children’s abuse.

Review by Beatrice Mori.

Based on a true event in Stephen Endelman’s life, “A Boy, A Man and a Kite” is a short movie about the relationship between unresolved childhood traumas and adult life. The short movie premiered at the prestigious Courthouse Hotel in central London with an exclusive screening followed by a Q&A with the cast and production team.

The movie, by Adam Matalon, tells the story of Daniel, a man stuck in the limbo of his brain cancer coma. Suspended between life and death, he relives his childhood trauma, when his teacher sexually abused him.

It’s a very delicate subject to explore, and Matalon’s choice of using adult Daniel’s voice as a narration of the events helps the audience entering the oneiric world, giving them a sense of complete engagement.
All the shots are created so that we can see everything through young Daniel’s eyes (played by an extraordinary Tommy Eplett whose name, I would say, won’t remain unknown for long), making the film deliberately uncomfortable and adding that something more to the powerful effect the movie has on the spectator.

What makes this movie particularly interesting is the contrast between the abstract and the real world. This is achieved by the Oscar worthy music composed by Mr Endelman himself, together wit the amazing acting and Matalon’s well-calibrated and emotionally driven shots.

Matalon proves his ability as a director through his innovative choices and unique use of metaphors. As he states: “Newtonian laws don’t apply in this film. There are no laws of gravity, space and time. I wanted to deconstruct the reality and create an intermittence between abstract and reality.”

The Q&A, hosted by Elle Torrez, was a very interesting way to deepen the central subjects of the film. “Since when I got the script in my hands I felt that this was a story that needed to be told” says the producer Ajay Nayyar visibly moved by the achievement obtained.

“There are all the intentions to transform it into a feature movie” the producer goes on: “as we have plenty of material and real passion for this project.”

The British Grammy-nominated composer Mr Endleman, stresses how fundamental the role of music has been to help him going on with his life and adds: “Living in denial for a lifetime will never be the solution. You need to speak out your truth in order to overcome your traumas. This movie shows that self healing is the only redemption”.

Regards the excellent cast, Jerome Wright did an amazing job as he avoided to play the cliché of the antagonist assaulter Trevor Bolton and about the process of making the character his own, he says: “I had to separate the role from the message of the movie. He was a man admired and loved as a teacher with a toxic predilection for children. I tried to keep it simple. I tried to play an human, not a monster”.

The production was supported by a charity called Wave Trust which is focused on developing and implementing solutions to prevent and heal adverse childhood experiences.

After the screening, the founder, George Hosking, did a very remarkable speech full of passion and dedication about the 70/30 campaign; for more pieces of information this is their website:
http://www.wavetrust.org/

I personally would say that when a piece of Art  moves deeply, gives people instruments to help them carrying on with their own troubles and leaves a mark within…is surely worth it!

So five full stars for “A Boy, A Man and A Kite”…even if I’d give 6 stars if I could!

Watch the Trailer: