<<Movies of My Childhood list
The Boy Who Could Fly
Sitting
by a window, a teenage boy makes a paper plane. Folding it ever so carefully
and meticulously, he is lost in his own little world. He then throws the plane
out his window, where it gracefully descends and lands in a tree. Right next
door, a teenage girl called Amelia, and her family have just bought a new house.
They arrive with only a few possessions and a large empty house to fill.
Heading straight upstairs for her bedroom, she opens the window to her new
bedroom and meets the boy next door, who sits on the outer ledge of his window
directly facing hers. “Hi” the girls says to him but he says nothing. Instead,
he begins to raise his arms as if impersonating a plane. Still, he says nothing
and the girl, her mum and younger brother look on in confusion.
While
the girl tries to settle in and make some friends at a new school, her younger
brother Louis has troubles of his own. Running into the local bullies down the
street, he pulls out all the army tricks he knows to avoid being captured and
beaten up by them. He happens to be a G.I. Joe fanatic, and rides around on a
tactical three wheeled bike And her mum is still grieving from the death of her
husband. Having to return to full time work, she does her best to keep the
family together.
Meanwhile,
the girl continues to find her gaze drawn to the boy next door. There is
something different about him, that’s for sure. Not only does he never seem to
talk, but he’s constantly sitting outside his window acting like a plane or
making paper planes. Amelia finds out his name is Eric and he is autistic,
never having uttered a word in his life. He’s also an orphan, whose parents
died in a plane crash. Amelia is fascinated to say the least, and given her
good natured personality, approaches the boy who doesn’t talk to anyone try and
speak to him. Once again he doesn’t say anything, but appreciates the fact the
girl was the only one in school who made an effort to communicate with
him.
One
of Amelia’s school teachers notices that Eric likes Amelia and that she is
making an effort to engage him. The teacher tells Amelia that she has watched
over Eric in the past, making sure he wouldn’t get put into an institution. She
asks Amelia to help out a bit more and continue to develop her relationship
with Eric, because no doctor has ever been able to reach him. Maybe it will be
a special friend. Amelia accepts the teachers request to spend more time with
Eric, and starts to bring him into the world he shys away from.
The
performances of the two young leads who play Amelia and Eric (Lucy Deakins and
Jay Underwood) really carry this film. Originally made for TV, it could have
all been pretty average, too sappy and sentimental. But the actors make it
believable, and it’s well made. It’s a love story at it’s centre, as Amelia
reaches out to Eric, and Eric helps her heal in her broken family. But there’s
also a whimsical sense of awe and wonder throughout, as Amelia begins to
suspect that maybe Eric can fly, and we the audience watch in anticipation to
find out ourselves.
Slowly
but surely, Eric’s interaction with Amelia grows. But all he does is mimic her
every move. Still, he never says a word, and Amelia finds herself succumbing to
the peer pressure of her class mates who mock her for hanging out with “The
Dumb Kid”. She feels like her assistance is going nowhere and is about to give
up on the job, when Eric initiates contact by himself for the first time. He
teaches Amelia the proper way to make a paper plane. From here on, everything
they do together has a theme to it… flying. Together they watch TV shows about
planes, read Peter Pan and fly kites in the park. Their relationship grows, and
Amelia is unsure if Eric is becoming more like her, or she’s becoming more like
him. Either way, she starts to feel something for him. This becomes conflicting
for Amelia, as even as she develops feelings for Eric after spending so much
time with him, the responsibility of it also becomes a burden. And just when
she’s at her breaking point, ready to walk away from Eric, Amelia starts to
believe that maybe Eric can fly.
When
we’re young, we like to believe that anything is possible. We don’t know about
limitations, and what’s deemed as possible or impossible. With this
unadulterated imagination intact, we can dream. Seeing ourselves doing and
being things beyond anyone else’s expectations. We believe there is a secret
power inside all of us when we’re kids, and it’s up to us to figure out what
that power is and how to use it. Eric believes in this power, and so much in
fact he will even step out on the edge of his house roof to prove it. When he
proves that he can fly, taking Amelia by her hand and soaring over the streets
and houses, he inspires the whole town. Eric’s gift is also the inspiration
Amelia and her family needed to move on from their grief and become happier
people.
The
Boy Who Could Fly is a quaint little film. It’s harmless fluff, made for the
whole family. As a kid I remember it sparking my imagination, and just watching
it again recently, it still holds up pretty well and could connect with today’s
kids just as much I reckon.
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