A Story of Children and Film

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A Story of Children and Film

2013

1h 41m

Documentary

History

Drama

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

94%

Tomatometer

16 Reviews

76%

Popcornmeter

100+ Ratings

A celebration of childhood, as portrayed in 53 films from around the world, including "The Red Balloon" and "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial."

Mark Kermode

Observer (UK)

A hugely impressive work by a uniquely talented storyteller.

Rated: 4/5

Apr 6, 2014

Full Review

Donald Clarke

Irish Times

Cousins does eventually come to a conclusion: "Movies are like kids. Kids are like movies." That will do well enough as an epigram.

Rated: 4/5

Apr 4, 2014

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Derek Malcolm

London Evening Standard

Its basic merit comes through consistently, and the children themselves are wonderfully real.

Apr 4, 2014

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Siobhan Synnot

Scotsman

Idiosyncratic essay about children in movies from all over the world; the commentary is a bit precious but the clips are intriguing.

Rated: 3/5

Apr 7, 2014

Full Review

Niki Boyle

The List

At the very least, you'll walk away from A Story of Children and Film with an additional 50 or so movies to add to your watch list.

Rated: 3/5

Apr 4, 2014

Full Review

Trevor Johnston

Radio Times

Captivating, educational stuff: ideal viewing for families looking to broaden their cinematic horizons.

Rated: 4/5

Apr 4, 2014

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Audience Member

Very much a companion piece to Mark Cousins' monumental A Story of Film, this too has the mood of a dream, a visual meditation on the particular art of portraying childhood in cinema. As before, his selections tend to come from the less well-known ends of world cinema, although he has time to include Spielberg, Loach, Campion and others. Very personal, quite idiosyncratic.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/27/23

Full Review

Audience Member

A Christmas present to myself. Wonderful.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

02/19/23

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Audience Member

Manages to sustain an interest through some decent observation about children in the history of cinema, but there's no real purpose to this documentary.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

02/06/23

Full Review

Audience Member

A touch too artistic but there's no denying the knowledge and eye Mark Cousins has for world cinema, this time from knee-level!

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/18/23

Full Review

Audience Member

I am sure this documentary is brilliant for anyone studying children in cinema. But I am not, so whilst I found most of it vaguely interesting, it didn't hold my attention.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

01/17/23

Full Review

n a

Less of a documentary and more of a visual essay, and despite a genuine interest in the subject matter this film struggled to maintain my attention!

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

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Mark Cousins

Director

Mark Cousins

Narrator

Ben

Actor

Mark Cousins

Writer

Mary Bell

Producer

Adam Dawtrey

Producer

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Synopsis

A celebration of childhood, as portrayed in 53 films from around the world, including "The Red Balloon" and "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial."

Director: Mark Cousins
Producer: Mary Bell, Adam Dawtrey
Screenwriter: Mark Cousins
Genre: Documentary, History, Drama
Original Language: English
Runtime: 1h 41m