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Star Boys<\/span><\/em> the directorial feature length film debut by\u00a0Visa Koiso-Kanttila it is a beautifully heart breaking coming of age story hailing from Olso, Norway originally titled\u00a0Kaiken se kest\u00e4\u00e4.\u00a0<\/em>The film shares the story of two families pulled together and apart by their young children witnessing their parents sexual awakening. After a toga party the boys walk in on, the children of these families, Vessa and Kaarlo, are forced to grow up fast as bystanders of their parents swinging parties and relationship turmoil.<\/p>\nThe beautiful motif of icy blue water showing us the passage of time and emotion juxtaposes the heat of the red tones and lighting indicating the passion and sexuality throughout the film. The nature and snow surrounding the town represent a layer of purity that we slowly lose throughout the film. When we see Vessa pick up the swans lost feather and contemplate it we know that that is the end of his innocence. And while all this is happening the imagery of space gives a subtly reminder that that problems that these boys face is small in comparison to the worlds problems. Cinematographer\u00a0Jarkko T. Laine\u00a0did an amazing job of displaying this imagery while not making it look cluttered and really putting us into the moments that these characters are in.<\/p>\n
Koiso-Kanttila masterfully touches on the portrayal and expectations of masculinity in the 20th century. Through showing us three generations of men in a family we see how these ideas have been passed down and are subliminally forced into young Vessa’s mind. A score by\u00a0Per St\u00f6rby Jutbring careful subtle nature allows it to create an impactful, emotional moments when it is needed. All of this aided by amazing acting from two incredibly young boys that get you inside the heads of their characters and want more.<\/p>\n
The plot is heavy for the 82 minute run time, and all though you could see the craftsmanship and heart that went into the film it perhaps needed one more edit. The story all be it beautiful was crowed at times and had unnecessary tangent plot points. The film tells a new and exciting story and leaves you on the edge of your seat with your heart in your hands begging for more. I left the theater with a wonderful mix of sadness and hope that only the best movies can give to you. I hope to see more from\u00a0Visa Koiso-Kanttila in the future.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Reviewed by Madeline Englese. Viewed at Metropolitan Theaters in Santa Barbara, CA. Star Boys the directorial feature length film debut by\u00a0Visa Koiso-Kanttila it is a beautifully heart breaking coming of age story hailing from Olso, Norway originally titled\u00a0Kaiken se kest\u00e4\u00e4.\u00a0The film shares the story of two families pulled together and apart by their young children […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":233813,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,322],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-41236","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-films","category-santa-barbara-film-festival-2018"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/studentfilmreviews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41236","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/studentfilmreviews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/studentfilmreviews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/studentfilmreviews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/233813"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/studentfilmreviews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=41236"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/studentfilmreviews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41236\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/studentfilmreviews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=41236"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/studentfilmreviews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=41236"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/studentfilmreviews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=41236"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}