The Forgotten Coming Of Age Masterpiece

Arguably the greatest coming of age film ever made yet i get the sense that it goes mostly unnoticed as an essential film, richly depicting the coming of age of a boy in the corrupt world of the adults around him. Masterpiece. For those who have seen it, what do you think. Where does it rank among the great coming of age films?

I found the film so mysteriously beautiful that I thought it was sui generis. I can’t really fit it into a category of films.