If… would fit the boarding school category, but in that case visions of armed revolution would need to equal a character coming of age, which I’d say counts.
Ahh yes, If…. I’ve never had the chance to watch this film. Must look for it again. Thanks, Brandon.
I can’t debate on it, obviously. But I’m going to go ahead and add it.
our own kukunoor’s Rockford — I would not recommend adding it, hit me like a fleeting thought thats all.
Andy, I actually attended that school, as did Nagesh Kukunoor. Well, it wasn’t called Rockford – it was Mayfield (a.k.a Montfort) – and he only included the facade of the chapel, the quadrangle, etc. ‘cos I didn’t recognize the interiors. Filming took place in December when we were off for the holidays and wrapped up in January, two days after the re-opening day. I remember driving up to the gates, sick of the winding, uphill, Ghat roads, and being greeted by this big sign that said ‘Welcome to Rockford’ or something. I was clueless, thought I was high from all the heavy smoking the night before. I’m not going to add it though, ‘cos I don’t think it belongs to that list. Since watching it, I’ve always wanted to borrow a little from Rockford, design a Caulfield-esque coming-of-age plot, write it for the screen and shoot it at this other boarding school I attended – Woodstock – in the picturesque hilltown of Mussoorie on the foothills of the Himalayas.
Well, I guess this is where I sigh wistfully.
Anyway, I recommend Mussoorie to travelers, if there are any out there.
Damn. Double Post again. Moderators, this needs to be fixed!
A Little Romance, Simon Birch, Empire of the Sun, Road to Perdition, Amarcord and Dead Poets Society.
Faces of Children
A Nos Amours
The Last Picture Show
Time of the Gypsies
Wild Reeds
The 400 blows obviously
The Young Torless
I’m lost on the whole boarding school angle, just can’t think of any not already mentioned, but here are some of my favorites: To Kill a Mockingbird. The Unbelievable Truth ( I just don’t see Hal Hartley enough in any of these forums)
Cinema Paradiso, American Graffiti, Basketball Diaries, The Graduate, Welcome to the Dollhouse, Sweet Sixteen, Fanny and Alexander…..Leolo
When I was teenager, there was “Duck Season,” Y tu mama tambien" “City of God,” “Good Will Hunting” and “The Virgin Suicides.” “Rebel Without a Cause,” of course. I second “Sweet Sixteen,” and I was pretty taken with “Let the Right On In” earlier this year. On the lighter (but no less potent) side, there is “Clueless,” “Bend It Like Beckham,” “The Lion King” and “Heathers.”
The first few things that sprang to mind were the Apu trilogy, Wild Reeds, Motorcycle Diaries, I Vitelloni , and perhaps Smoke Signals.
Wild Reeds stands out as a film with some extremely detailed characters, and the addition of some outside political events definitely makes it a heftier story.
Smoke Signals struck me as very flawed in a number of ways – very sentimental – but the bus trip conversations between the two main characters definitely fit this theme, and are far and away the sharpest bit of writing and acting in that particular film.
With Hal Ashby, the most obvious candidate would be Harold & Maude, though most of his 70s films were built around these half-developed manchild type characters, so in a very oblique way, a few other Ashby films would fit as well.
There is also Kurosawa’s No Regrets For Our Youth – parts of which were at least somewhat influenced by autobiography (the first half of the film), with the gender of the protagonist switched to somewhat disguise the fact – the leftist and art fascinations of his early 20s definitely seems to be what the film was drawn from.
Flirting is a great coming-of-age-set-in-boarding school film—other than the boarding school angle, isn’t there already a “coming-of-age” thread?
UPDATED! Thanks for the superb suggestions everyone, can’t believe I forgot some of the best and obvious ones. And there are a lot I haven’t seen yet.
CHARLOTTE, sorry, there was no way to search the forums in beta and I wasn’t going to go through the 22 odd pages of threads!
Small Change! It’s soo good. Maybe it was on here already and I missed it.
400 Blows, Mes Petites Amoureuses, Fanny and Alexander, My Life as a Dog, Pather Panchali (Apu Trilogy), I Vitelloni, IL Posto, Ratcatcher, Au Revoir Les Enfants, Mon Oncle Antoine, Cria Cuervos, The River, Wild Strawberries ( Coming of old age?).
The Last Picture Show, All About Lily Chou Chou, The Place Promised in Our Early Days, 5 Centimeters Per Second.
Mes petites amoureuses and Small Change.. both great films. I’ve been wanting to watch Mon oncle Antoine for the longest time, but I never can find the DVD.
As for Wild Strawberries – I love that film, but I don’t see it fitting in here.
Would Woody Allen’s “Radio Days” be considered coming of age?
“Les Enfants Terribles”
“Fighting Elegy”
Radio Days. Coming-of-age? Certainly, I’d think so.
Fighting Elegy could be considered coming-of-age, and comes really close to the boarding school category.
Would everyone agree that The Dreamers was a coming-of-age film?
forgot to add American History X, truly coming-of-age.
Fucking Amal and Ghost World
The Outsiders
Sandlot
Now and Then
Y Tu Mama Tambien
City of God
Virgin Suicides
Stand by Me
Closely Watched Trains by Jirí Menzel
MMM- I was just going to post that. I second Closely Watched Trains.
Cant leave out these 3:
Loves of a Blonde (Milos Forman)
Do You Remember Dolly Bell? (Kusturica)
Murmur of the Heart (Malle)
also if you can get hold of a film called Bari Theke Paliye (Eng. trans. Runaway / The Vagrants) by Ritwik Ghatak. It’s probably the most beautiful and simple depiction of childhood… absolutely splendid! It’s very difficult to get hold of but a must-watch…
Le Peril Jaune, by Cedric Klapish, in English ‘School Daze’, I think. Bunch of guys look back 10 years to their last year of school in the 70s, complete with demos, getting high, and crushes.
Nikhil
This is one of my favorite genres in film, and books. I’m always looking for charming coming-of-age films, especially foreign and set in boarding schools. How about you cinephiles help me put together a list? Here are some great ones I can pull out from the top of my head:
UPDATED
Set in boarding schools:
School Ties
Du er ikke alene (You Are Not Alone – Danish)
Au revoir, les enfants (Goodbye, Children – French)
Les Choristes (The Choir – French)
If…. (coming-of-age?)
Flirting
Others:
The 400 Blows (numero uno)
Igby Goes Down (nice take on Holden Caulfield, but certainly no Catcher in the Rye)
Stand By Me
Dazed and Confused
The Outsiders
Raising Victor Vargas
Almost Famous
Son of Rambow
A Little Romance
Simon Birch
Empire of the Sun
Road to Perdition
Amarcord
Dead Poets Society
Faces of Children
A Nos Amours
The Last Picture Show
Time of the Gypsies
Wild Reeds
The Young Torless
To Kill a Mockingbird
The Unbelievable Truth
Cinema Paradiso
American Graffiti
Basketball Diaries
The Graduate
Welcome to the Dollhouse
Sweet Sixteen
Fanny and Alexander
Duck Season
Y tu mama tambien
City of God
Good Will Hunting
The Virgin Suicides
Rebel Without a Cause
No Regrets For Our Youth
Small Change
Mes petite Amoureuses
My Life as a Dog
The Apu Trilogy
I Vitelloni
Il Posto
Mon oncle Antoine
Cria Cuervos
The River
All About Lily Chou Chou
Fighting Elegy
Radio Days
Les enfants terribles
American History X
Fucking Amal
Ghost World
I’ll keep updating.
And if you think categorizing some of these films as ‘coming-of-age’ is debatable, then make your case.