I agree with Persepolis. I love that movie.
Rushmore. Apu trilogy. 400 blows.
My Life as a dog and whats eating gilbert grape
welcome home roxy carmichael
king of the hill (soderberg film)
Ghost World
Murmur of the Heart
Fat Girl
Rushmore
Say Anything
Leolo (underrated genius!)
Virgin Suicides
Ice Storm
A Real Young Girl
The Cement Garden (so overlooked!)
and I’m sure so many more that I’m forgetting right now—great topic!
Over The Edge, people, Over The Edge. My junior high fantasies come true. (Not those fantasies. Come on.)
yes all matt dillon movies can probably be considered “coming of age” movies. the guy didn’t seem to get any older for like a decade.
There’s a sadly forgotten little American movie out there from the early 1990s called THE MAN IN THE MOON. It’s notoriety now is that it is the film that gave the world Reese Witherspoon, but it is remarkably good. Also, the film RAMBLIN’ ROSE from that same period.
Don’t forget Ken Loach’s KES, a devastating piece.
and…
and don’t laugh …
the biggest “coming of age” movie from my own coming-of-age period was THE BLUE LAGOON, although that might just be because it gave a weightier meaning to the phrase. (ha-ha)
man in the moon was pretty good…there was a tv movie that diane keaton did with reese witherspoon and patricia arquette called wildflower…same sorta premise except that patricia arquette’s character was stricken with epilepsy and semi-deafness…ramblin rose made me feel weird.
Reality Bites, without a doubt, is probably my favorite. Rushmore is close behind.
I’ve always thought there was something about Quebec culture that leads to good coming-of-age dramas. For instance, there’s the recently Criterionized Mon Oncle Antoine (sex+death=growing up), but my personal favourite is Leolo, a demented and beautiful film about a young boy retreating into fantasy to escape from his lunatic family.
Shades of another thread about brilliant opening sequences: the film starts with Leolo imagining his biological father was a lusty Italian tomato picker who masturbated into a crate of tomatoes that was shipped to Quebec, whereupon Leolo’s mother falls onto the crate of tomatoes, thus impregnating herself. The rest of the film follows similar logic. Oh, the joy of bodily fluids!
Otherwise, who can argue with such fine choices as have already been mentioned? In particular, Rushmore and the 400 Blows (which I’ll be seeing on the big screen tomorrow, huzzah, lucky me) are particularly fine. And Tideland is much better than the critical shit-kicking it received would lead you to believe. Hopefully time will rehabilitate that one.
What about “If”? And thanks to Olivier, probably for “Ivan’s Childhood,” which I saw as an adolescent, in the Circle Theater in Washington, D.C., where it was called, “My Name is Ivan,” and to David-Davecito…for the Apu Trilogy, which also much rank as one of the great movies of all time.
The bleak ‘KIDS’ (U.S. 95) too is essentially about coming of age…
Question: When I was a kid, I saw “Captains Courageous” with Spencer Tracy — and loved it. Is it as hokey as I would imagine now? If not, it’s also a coming of age movie. Anyone here familiar with it?
I’m surprised that no one mentioned The squid and the whale…
I’m surprised that nobody mentioned Y Tu Mama Tambien.
It is mentionned on first page :P
400 blows, Rushmore and Au Revoir Le Enfants
The Ballad of Jack and Rose, I would have to say. I never hear it mentioned, but it’s one of my favorites.
Oops, I just saw it. Must have missed it before.
Konrad Wolf’s "I was nineteen’
yay Joseph Caouette! A fellow Leolo fan!
We’re few and far between, but we’re out there. :-)
Ah, Jean-Claude Lauzon. Died too soon. He was just getting started with that one.
“Small Change” and “Spirited Away”
The Coming of age film that really rocked me is a short by Ermanno Olmi called “La Cotta” (The Crush). It’s on the criterion Il Posto DVD. Watch it ASAP!
RUSHMORE is certainly my favorite. 400 BLOWS is close. Although it’s not the main character, and it’s not even a huge change, I found TOY STORY to be a brilliant story of a boy who’s interest in toys has shifted…it moved me far deeper than it should have. Of course HAROLD & MAUDE and THE GRADUATE are perfect for this list.
Oh, almost forgot…LES MISTONS on the bonus disc to the Antoine Doinel films is a great short by Truffaut.
“River’s Edge”, “Rumblefish”, “Diner”, “Hope and Glory”, “Come and See”, “Gregory’s Girl” " 36 Fillette", “Fast Times at Ridgemont High” and “The Tin Drum” are all fantastic coming of age films.
Fellini’s I, Vitelloni
My Life As A Dog, This Is England
David Lee
I cannot believe this film has not been mentioned but that just maybe shows how overlooked it is.
I Vitelloni – Fellini
A great film about a group of young, passionate men in a coming of age story.
And how come no one has mentioned Barry Lyndon?
Other good examples are Hayao Miyazaki films, many of them are coming of age stories.