Review by Jonathan Godfrey for Mr. Will Wong
Canadian filmmaking continues to impress, and Cividino’s Sleeping Giant is a perfect example as to why. It’s a visceral look at the power of those fleeting summer friendships experienced by Canadian boys.
The Film takes place in and around Sleeping Giant Provincial Park. The narrative focuses on three adolescents: Adam (Jackson Martin), Nate (Nick Serino) and Riley (Reese Moffett). Adam is from a middle class family who has purchased a summer home in the area. Whereas Nate and Riley are cousins from broken homes who are at their grandmother’s while school is out. The three boys find friendship in rebellious acts and the pursuit of the fairer sex, but there’s a weight to their actions unlike most Coming of Age Films.
Oft times when we put our youth on screen we place them in glamourous circumstances with manageable consequences. It’s as though we want to shelter them not only in life, but in art as well. Sleeping Giant is not one of those Films. Its actors are everyday people, and its experiences are reminiscent of those in Harmony Korine’s Gummo and Larry Clark’s KIDS. The Film is a Canadian look at what young boys really go through. Their thoughts, their feelings, and their desperation to prove themselves worthy of manhood. It’s an insightful a Film, and it’s absolutely beautiful.
Sleeping Giant National Park is one of Ontario’s most picturesque places, and we see this for ourselves while we watch the boys venture through it. What exactly they get up to is something any interested Moviegoer should endeavour to see for themselves. Though this Film is not for the faint of heart, it nevertheless is great Cinema that will get people thinking, and will remind many men what it was like to be young.
D Films release SLEEPING GIANT Friday, April 8, 2016.
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