<<Movies of My Childhood list
Stand By Me
I
didn’t have a clear plan when setting out to write the reviews for the Movies
of my Childhood. I didn’t know what order I’d watch the films in, or the order
I would write the reviews either. But from the very beginning I did know I
would watch and write about one very special film, last. That’s because “Stand
By Me” is a classic film for the ages, and captures the freedom of childhood
and ultimately, the loss of innocence, better than any other film ever made, I
believe. It proudly sits in the list of most favourite movies for many people
around the world. It’s a film everyone can connect with, and seems to have a
connection to. It’s one of those rare movies that stays with you long after the
end credits have rolled, and earns a place in your heart.
Based
on the short story by Stephen King simply called, “The Body”, the core of the
story is about four friends who set out on something of an adventure one
weekend, and return, changed. Under somewhat morbid but ultimately life
affirming circumstances they go in search of a dead body, and learn a thing or
two about life, and each other, along the way. The film’s themes are never
thrown at you in an obvious or showy way; Stand By Me exudes it’s ideas from
the screen in a subtle but powerful way. It speaks to you silently, bridging
the gap between you and it’s story, and drawing you in from the very beginning.
Watching it is like revisiting your own childhood, and it can conjure up
memories of where you were, and what happened when you knew your childhood
ended, and life would never be the same. After it’s finished, you feel better
for having watched it, as it rewards you in multiple ways.
I
remember watching this film as a child, and finding enjoyment in it’s funnier
moments. Just the way the boys spoke to each other; giving one another crap and
swearing. They had attitude and were well drawn-out characters. When you’re
twelve, your best mates are your whole world, and the friendship between the
boys on screen here is what makes the film so memorable. The way they support
each other is a testament to their character, and their bond. Four twelve year
olds brought together by the fact they all live in the same town, however each
of them is quite different, and would certainly grow to become very different
adults. But there’s something that connects them in their pre-adolescent days
that is both unspoken, and very deep. Over the course of a single weekend, as
they walk cross country to find the dead kid, they will start to shed their
layers, but through it all, be there for each other in their lowest lows and
highest highs in every place they go and every face they show. That was the
impression the film left on me when I was younger, and that impression has
stayed, and evolved.
In
more recent years, I’ve viewed the film through a very different lens. That
viewpoint being a fond sense of nostalgia. As it opens, we meet a man, who
recalls the time in his life when he first saw a dead body. Played brilliantly
by Richard Dreyfuss, who spends more time narrating the film than appearing on
screen, he embodies the soul of a man who has had to grow up and become an
adult, but still very much lives in his own past. There’s a beautiful shot
early on in the film, where he’s parked in his car on the side of a country
road. On the seat beside him is a newspaper, with a story about a lawyer called
Chris Chambers who was murdered. The man in the car sits in sadness, staring
out his window. As he does two kids ride past on their bikes and snap him out
of his daze. He, and we, watch them continue to ride down the lonely country
road, towards an endless landscape of mountains and trees, where they will
disappear into the wilderness and experience the freedom and exploration you
can only truly live when you’re a kid on your bike and have all the time in the
world. The start of Stand By Me perfectly captures what it's like to be an
adult, when you look back on your childhood. You can only remember bits and
pieces of it, and view your own history like a movie; fragmented scenes that connect,
but are never whole, and rely on your focus and attention to make sense of it
all.
From
this moment, you're transported back to where it all began.
It’s
the summer of 1959, and little Gordy heads to a secret treehouse to meet up
with his pals, Chris and Teddy. They are playing cards and smoking when Gordy
arrives, and the three talk crap to pass the endless time at their disposal. A
knock comes from the door below, and it’s the fourth culprit of the gang, Vern.
He has run there, short of breath, and tries to tell the guys something
amazing. When he composes himself, he asks the boys “You guys wanna go see a
dead body?”. The three of them fall silent, and listen in as Vern spills the
details about a boy their age who went hiking, and hadn’t been seen in days.
Vern’s older brother had discovered him along side the train tracks. The boys
decide they will go and see the body for themselves, initially hoping it will
make them heroes, and maybe even get their face in the newspaper.
They
start to walk the twenty miles or so, following the train tracks the whole way.
Step by step, and the further they go, the boys start to shed their layers and
we get to learn more about them. Each of them comes from a dysfunctional family
of sorts, and all carry their own burdens. Gordy (Will Wheaton) lost his older
brother Denny, who was his whole world. Since then, Gordy's parents had
forgotten he even existed. Then there's Teddy (Corey Feldman). One look at him
and you know he's come from a bad family. He speaks of his dad as a war hero,
but the fact his old man abused him is very contrary to the hero Teddy views
his father as. Then there's Vern (Jerry O'Connell); the stupid, fat kid of the
group, and more of a stereotypical character. He's essentially the comic relief
for the film and balances out the interactions between the boys when things get
heavy, and will bring it down a notch with his simplistic outlook on life.
Then, at the centre of this group is Chris (River Phoenix). A misunderstood and
under appreciated kid who is wise beyond his years, and is purely more
intelligent and deep than he appears on the surface. He is the backbone of the
group, and knows what to say and when to say it to either bring his friends
down when they're carried away, or lift them back up when they sink to a
depressed low. He and Gordy are closest, sharing their view points on life, and
their own families, and embodying a friendship that is truer and more genuine
than any other friendship you're likely to see, in this movie or otherwise.
As
the four of them walk deeper into the wilderness, they begin to forget where
they came from, that being the small town of Castle Rock, Oregon. Their walk
signifies thar right of passage we all go through; leaving behind who you
thought you were, to discover who you really are. Each of these boys will
abandon an old part of themselves and bring out a side they didn't know they
could posses. This serves the boys well towards the end of the film when Vern's
older brother and his gang of cronies, led by Ace (Kieffer Sutherland) also
make there way to the location of the dead kid. When the two groups meet –
teenagers and boys – the real men will present themselves. Like a stand off,
the four twelve year olds stand up to six teenagers twice their size, stating their
claim as the finders and keepers of the body of Ray Brower. It's an intense
scene where the young guys keep their integrity intact,even when their lives
are threatened. Of course, we all know they are the victors, and the bullies
leave.
The
boys then commence the long walk back to their home town. Walking through the
night in silence, they return at first light of a new day. The town looks
different to them, smaller almost. They say goodbye, knowing they will see each
other when school starts back at the end of the summer, but rather they are
saying goodbye to their former selves. The four youths they were when they set
out on their walk two days before, are gone. As time goes by, the boys drift
apart, and go their separate ways.
We
end with the man we met at the start of the film, which was Gordy all grown up.
He's now a father himself, and putting the finishing touches on his book. He
has just written about the story of the walk to find the dead kid and stares at
his computer screen, thinking of the perfect way to end his book.
“I
never had any friends later on like the ones I had when I was twelve. Jesus,
does anyone?”
Such
a powerful line to end the movie on, and really sums up the whole message of
“Stand By Me”. Around the age of twelve is when you experience friendship in
it's purest form. That's what makes that age of your childhood so special and
memorable, and why Stand By Me is my quintessential childhood movie. And as the
end credits roll, the original song “Stand By Me” plays, which had it's musical
sound used as the score for the film. A perfect ending to a perfect
movie.
Conclusion to this series of Reviews
So there you have it, the Movies of
my Childhood reviewed. Watching and writing about these movies was more than
just a nostalgic experience; it helped me get back in touch with my inner
child. I think that’s important to sustain that connection with yourself, even
as an adult. And what better way to do that than to revisit the movies you grew
up with.
When I look back on these movies
from this wider perspective now, I can see some common themes and ideas. For
starters, there were several child actors who were regulars during the
eighties, such as River Phoenix, Fed Savage and Corey Feldman. There were also
common themes throughout all the films, which were as prevalent to being a kid
over twenty five years ago as they are now, which included; kids from broken
homes, kids being bullied, kids who were the outcast, kids who were
misunderstood, and kids believing in things like monsters, aliens, ghosts,
magic and adventure, and in the case of these movies, actually getting to live
it all. In reality, we can experience that first string of common themes - the
problems - which can be all too familiar in some childhoods. But as much as we'd like to, we can’t
experience the fun and fantastic stuff; it was in these movies I got to live
out some fantasies and dreams, through the characters on screen.
There were so many iconic movies and
memorable moments in this collection, they remain classic’s to this day. Who
could forget Sloth making his entry in “The Goonies”, scaring the crap out of
us with his disfigured face, then proving he was a hero by saving the kids
towards the end. How about Bastian riding Falcor at the end of “The NeverEnding
Story” and chasing down the bullies that gave him hell. Remember little Jimmy, the quiet kid
from “The Wizard” showing the whole world how to properly play Super Mario
Brothers 3 and get every kid in the world addicted to Nintendo. And surely, how
could you forget the bizarre and creepy house that Michael walks into in “The
Peanut Butter Solution”, which causes him to lose his hair? The kids movies of
the 1980’s were so unique, inventive and original, nothing has compared to them
since.
If I could sum up what connects
these movies as much as pure Imagination, which I talked about in the
introduction to these reviews, I would have to say that they are also united by
Courage. At some point in every film, each character has to face their fear. A
problem presents itself, and the children must step up and grow up in order to
make that journey from being afraid to becoming brave. Who they are when we
meet them at the start of their story, is completely different to who they will
become at the end. And their stories are so relatable and familiar to us,
because we’ve all been kids ourselves, we can find that by watching these
characters grow and change, we can grow and change with them.
I won’t deny that on some level,
movies have helped me discover who I am. That is part of their design, and we
can all find ourselves in one movie or more at some point in our lives. Each of
the films I reviewed here, connected with me at the time I saw them, and helped
to form my identity. That might sound strange to some of you and I’m not
claiming that I became the characters on screen or wished I was like them. But
more so, it would come down to either something about the way they handled
their predicament and a single, defining action they took that resonated with
me. It’s almost impossible to not be inspired by Daniel LaRusso in “The Karate
Kid” fighting his way through the tournament, facing each of his bullies, and
standing on his weak leg right to the very end, and winning. I’m sure that was
responsible for my brief interest in martial arts as a kid and the three
classes I attended. Of course, my two years playing softball (as there was no
baseball team in my area for my age group) was directly influenced by “The
Sandlot” because it captured the whole mythology and timeless appeal of playing
baseball with your mates under the sunny, blue sky. And then the recently
reviewed “Stand By Me”, symbolising those long walks and bike rides I would
take with friends (or alone), getting lost in the wilderness and finding myself
along the way.
These movies are as much a part of
my childhood as the games I played and dreams I dreamed. Now having watched
them all again and written about them, I have this encapsulated view of these
films. All of a sudden they feel familiar and fresh to me, but forgotten just
as quickly, as I’ve released a part of my childhood by writing abut them. That
is the power of writing I suppose. Whatever you write is sending that out into
the world, whether it’s a desire, a secret, a wish, a confession or a dream. I
feel like I’ve passed on another piece of myself through these reviews, as I
aimed to capture the stories behind the movies which I grew up with, loved to
watch over and over again, and can proudly say were the initial films that
started my life long love affair with the movies, which continues to thrive and
change as I get older.
Maybe the next series of reviews
could be “The Movies of my Teens”? What a different collection of films that
would be. Watch this space…
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