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REVIEWS
The Selfish Giant
Teen newcomers Conner Chapman and Shaun Thomas
star in writer-director Clio Barnard’s effective addition to
Britain’s social-realism tradition BY NEIL YOUNG
Oscar Wilde may seem an
unlikely inspiration for British
writer-director Clio Barnard’s
second feature, a grimy tale of
youngsters growing up fast in 21st
century urban Yorkshire, but as
Wilde famously wrote, “We are all
in the gutter, but some of us are
looking at the stars.”
An absorbing and moving tale
loosely inspired by Wilde’s fable
of the same title, it premiered in
competition at the Directors’ Fortnight,
where strong early reactions
foretell a healthy life on the
festival circuit. Limited British
art house play will be buoyed by
enthusiastic critical support, with
overseas prospects perhaps strongest
in France where audiences
frequently are drawn to depictions
of the U.K.’s working class
Arbor (Chapman)
steals copper
from the national
power grid.
a la Ken Loach. While Barnard
seldom strays from the subgenre’s
well-established template, she
finds a fresh angle involving the
theft of copper from public places
including railway lines. The soaring
price of such metals in recent
years has sparked a lucrative illicit
trade revolving around scrapyards
where such materials can
be “fenced” with few questions
asked. One such dealer is “Kitten”
(Sean Gilder), into whose insalubrious
orbit are drawn pals Arbor
(Conner Chapman) and Swifty
(Shaun Thomas), both around 13.
Pint-sized motormouth Arbor
and bigger, more reflective Swifty
make for an unlikely but effective
brain/brawn duo, and it’s apparent
that each has skills that the
rigidity of formal education isn’t
able to harness.
Forsaken opportunities and
wasted resources, both human
and otherwise, are the underlying
themes of Barnard’s story,
which relies for drama on the
increasing hazardousness of
Swifty and Arbor’s hunt for the
near-ubiquitous precious metals.
Relentlessly foul-mouthed in a
manner that would make even
David Mamet blush, both lads
quickly emerge as entirely believable
characters whose friendship
rings consistently true on every
level. Downton Abbey devotees will
enjoy seeing Siobhan Finneran,
devious maid Miss O’Brien, in a
rather more sympathetic turn as
Swifty’s mother.
The Press notes’ reference
to Gilder’s Kitten as the “selfish
giant” of the title, however,
doesn’t really tie in with Wilde’s
fairy-tale at all. Indeed, the
whole Wilde connection is at
best unhelpful and at worst
distracting. Then again, Barnard
couldn’t really have gone down
the traditional route of naming
the movie after her protagonist,
since livewire Arbor evidently was
named by Barnard in honor of
her own debut, the 2010 documentary
The Arbor. That has to
count as another needlessly
perplexing touch in a film whose
most consistent strength is its
unvarnished directness.
Directors’ Fortnight
Cast Conner Chapman,
Shaun Thomas
Director-Screenwriter
Clio Barnard
91 minutes
Melinda Sue Gordon/Warner Bros.
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Warner Bros. for choosing
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