0 The Kid with a Bike

Film Analysis Essay 

Title: The Kid with a Bike
Genre: Drama
Tagline: The undeniable fact is that a child’s heaven is his own parents.
Directed by: Jean Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne
Writers: Jean Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne
Lead Cast: Thomas Doret (Cyril), Cecile De France (Samantha)
Duration: 87 minutes

Brief synopsis:

The story of a young boy going through turbulent times in his early youth comes across series of events that his untamed childhood can barely withstand. The movie covers series of actions that takes place in the child’s life while he is still pretty young. The movie also has another character in lead, in form of the affectionate hairdresser Samantha. Both the leads play their role in a very crafty manner and have lived up to the expectations one can build up from such a role and story. 

While the duo brothers have earned kudos all around for the directional performance, the movie is a critically acclaimed one and has won major awards across the board and even made it to Cannes Film Festival in 2011. 

What is the film about? What is the theme of it? Does the film convey any messages that will make a difference in a "Americans" ordinary life and the way they live it? If so, what are they? 

The film is about the one sided yet blissful blood bond relation between a father and an eleven year old who is abandoned by his father and lives in a foster home and is being told by the father that he would have to live there for only a short while. With hopes in heart that he would return to his father soon, the distracted boy is never able to relate to life without his father and his desired bicycle. He runs in search of the bike which he considers a special symbol of attachment to his father. To his small childish memory he runs tracing his father in all the places he can image. He visits the place where his father lived, but much to his disappointment, he finds out that his father has moved out. 

.The very first scene of the movie tells us about the boy’s state of mind who is lacking the peace and it is evident through an encounter with the counselor of the foster home where the boy hopes to find out about his father. He often tries to flee the foster home in hope of going to his real home which was promised by his father to him. While in pursuit of his little dream, and peace, along with hope of finding the bicycle and his father again, his life and future days take a turn for the good when he comes across a generous hairdresser who would later on adopt him. 

The Theme is based on the attempt of interpretation of the boy’s distracted mind which he suffers due to one of his parent’s unstable social standing. Being not able to bring him up, he falsely tells his young son that the stay at foster home would be a brief one; however, in real the things are gloomier for the ill fated boy. 

The theme is a very apt one considering the modern day unstable social standings of number of parents in various societies across the world, and it equally applies to the American Society and parents as well. It lives up to the expectations and delivers the message in a very calculated manner and warns all those with such intentions that abandoning their kids is the last best option available for their kids. Early days of life are the days where the kid needs proper attention and their parents guard. Even the toys and other childhood kits do not mean as much to the kids as much as their own parents. This has been shown in a very skill full manner where the kid considers the bicycle as a symbol of his father’s love towards him. 

The movie will definitely leave a spark in the minds and hearts of all those parents who are going through the thick of times and have even for once thought over similar lines of foster homes for their children. They would get to know what these actions could have in offer for the young ones if sent away from home. 

What three or four sequences are most important in the film? Why? 

There are number of scenes that would give the viewers goose bumps on any given day, and those moments were defining in the entire movie. Those movies were defining in a way that they set precedence for further scheme of action that was to be followed in the movie. 

The first one was when the child Cyril is on the run from the authorities of the foster home and comes across the hairdresser lady (Samantha) and clings on to her with an inner hope of becoming inseparable since he did not want to return to the place he had fled. A lot can be deduced from this particular scene, one the feeling of being deprived of his own mother, secondly seeking freedom from the foster home, thirdly in search of peace in his life. This scene sets the tone for rest of the movie, because the lady later on manages to find the bicycle for the kid and takes it to the foster home, and from there on, the kid asks her if he can be with her over the weekends. 

A turning event in the movie was when the young boy sees the banner reading selling of his the car and the bicycle by his father, which in a way is shattering of his dreams and the glass world contained inside his heart, since he was of the belief that his father could never imagine selling the bicycle and it must have been stolen. 

Another important sequence of the movie was he comes across the bad guy in form of Wes, who is on the hunt for such physically smart and agile boys who can help him in his mischievous endeavors. Seeing his innocence and being without parents, the thug sees him as a bright prospect who would serve his purpose of mugging and other evil designs. 

The series of events that took place after the boy purchased charcoal for the evening gathering, had little impact on the outcome of the story, yet weighed no lighter than any other strong part of the movie, was in form of the other child’s father (Le Libraire) who tells his son, that if the child is done, we would tell the world he fell off the tree without being attacked. These few lines barely had any impact on the plot of the movie, yet this speaks of the shallow nature of human beings in general and exposes the dark side in a larger perspective.

After falling from the tree, it was to be naturally believed that the boy would have breathed his last, but when he gets up and the way he runs towards Samantha’s home, was one of the climax scene of the movie, and would have left many viewers wondering about the insecurities our children face in our very own societies especially those who are abandoned or orphaned. 

What does the film reveal about the personality and interests of the filmmaker? 

The story of the movie speaks volumes for the maker of the movie himself. The movie has a lesson and message behind it, the film maker could have gone for any thriller and commercial subject and might well have attracted far more greater number of viewers, yet the filmmaker had the mind of a truly defined film maker who would make movies based on subjects and situations faced in societies. The theme and making of the film shows the real abilities the incumbent possesses. He has added the necessary flavor of various components to the script to make it appealing to different sections of viewers and has maintained freshness in the entire sequence of proceedings throughout which speaks of the film maker’s directional abilities. The film is basically made by two brothers who have a history of making such purposeful movies in bid to convey an alarming message to the society over the negligence and lack of responsibility taking by the parents themselves. There are number of scenes which show the vision and depth in the thinking power of the film maker and they have addressed the bitter face of human nature in a tending way. 

The exhibition of frustration of the boy in certain scenes shows the ability of film maker to co relate a frustrated mind to the frustration in the outer form through expressions. 

What insight does the film give into the foreign country's unique customs and traditions? 

The movie and its makers have touched upon quite a sensitive line that could be traced and linked to the culture of particular background and society where the movie is made and the characters are shown to exist. The movie in a crystal clear manner discourages the choice of foster homes for children. It further warns the societies about the fragility of the nature of children how open they are to vulnerabilities in their ambiance. A few candies, few sweet words and the kid can be made to do any unlawful act. 

The movie does show a positive side of the society where people are willing to adopt the young ones from foster homes. This can be seen in form of the hairdresser who agreed to have him for weekends at first and full time adoption later. The movie also shows a softer image of the segment of society where the unknown woman at first sight decides to arrange the bike for the kid. The kindness on behalf of the child’s father, who was attacked during the mugging, shows there is a good will gesture of forgiveness in the society where the story and characters are shown to exist. 

In what ways were the techniques of film making (casting, direction, script, music, sets, action, cinematography, lightning editing, etc.) used to get the film's message(s) across, or to make the message plausible or compelling? In what ways were they ineffective or misused? 

The movie has a rating of 7.4 on the IMDb website and large sections of the people who have commented on it have critically acclaimed it for its various components. 

The lead cast revolves around two characters namely Cyril and Samantha, both of them have done justice to their role. While Samantha plays the most adorable and subtle character that inspires the kid to live with her, at the same time the boy’s character has been sketched in the most befitting manner that portrays his inner anguish and state of denial he is going through. The movie definitely has been made with a message in purpose and is pretty clear one that there a child seeks the shelter of an elder figure in his or her life. 

Good cinematography plays its role in equal proportion and the skills have been used in an appropriate manner. 

On directional front, since the crew constituted a team that has been together for a while now and has worked over number of projects together, the chemistry is well built amongst the members and there were barely any feeling of uneasiness on behalf of the directional crew. The lighting, backgrounds, and the cinematography is in complete alignment with the requirements of the script. 

The use of rhythmical music at critical junctures in the movie is icing on the cake. 

What would be highly characteristic of such a case is revolt, anguish, agony , bit of scratching and screaming, hard luck, disownment , disparity, followed by tenacity, and ultimately redemption and healing in form of full time adoption, is the sequential pattern of the directional achievement. The film is bound to interest the segment of society who are entrusted with more or less same situation. The movie is worth watching and more so for students of art and cinema it serves as an interesting item since it has the sufficient recipe to achieve applause from the cinema critiques as well. 

Bibliography:

IMDB. The Kid with a Bike. 18 May 2011. 27 May 2012 <http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1827512/>.