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The Selfish Giant

  • 2013
  • Not Rated
  • 1h 31m
IMDb RATING
7.3/10
13K
YOUR RATING
Conner Chapman and Shaun Thomas in The Selfish Giant (2013)
Trailer for The Selfish Giant
Play trailer2:07
2 Videos
67 Photos
Drama

Two thirteen-year-old working-class friends in Bradford seek fortune by getting involved with a local scrap dealer and criminal.Two thirteen-year-old working-class friends in Bradford seek fortune by getting involved with a local scrap dealer and criminal.Two thirteen-year-old working-class friends in Bradford seek fortune by getting involved with a local scrap dealer and criminal.

  • Director
    • Clio Barnard
  • Writers
    • Clio Barnard
    • Lila Rawlings
    • Oscar Wilde
  • Stars
    • Conner Chapman
    • Shaun Thomas
    • Sean Gilder
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    7.3/10
    13K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Clio Barnard
    • Writers
      • Clio Barnard
      • Lila Rawlings
      • Oscar Wilde
    • Stars
      • Conner Chapman
      • Shaun Thomas
      • Sean Gilder
    • 50User reviews
    • 121Critic reviews
    • 83Metascore
  • See production info at IMDbPro
    • Nominated for 1 BAFTA Award
      • 12 wins & 21 nominations total

    Videos2

    The Selfish Giant
    Trailer 2:07
    The Selfish Giant
    The Selfish Giant - US Theatrical Trailer
    Trailer 2:08
    The Selfish Giant - US Theatrical Trailer
    The Selfish Giant - US Theatrical Trailer
    Trailer 2:08
    The Selfish Giant - US Theatrical Trailer

    Photos66

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    Top cast85

    Edit
    Conner Chapman
    Conner Chapman
    • Arbor
    Shaun Thomas
    Shaun Thomas
    • Swifty
    Sean Gilder
    Sean Gilder
    • Kitten
    Lorraine Ashbourne
    Lorraine Ashbourne
    • Mary
    Ralph Ineson
    Ralph Ineson
    • Johnny Jones
    Ian Burfield
    Ian Burfield
    • Mick Brazil
    Everal A Walsh
    Everal A Walsh
    • Railway Man
    • (as Everal A. Walsh)
    Elliott Tittensor
    Elliott Tittensor
    • Martin Fenton
    Rebecca Manley
    • Michelle 'Shelly' Fenton
    John Wall
    • School Nurse
    Mohammed Ali
    • Mo
    Jamie Michie
    Jamie Michie
    • Teacher
    Steve Evets
    Steve Evets
    • 'Price Drop' Swift
    Siobhan Finneran
    Siobhan Finneran
    • Mrs. Swift
    Bailey Clapham
    • Swift Child
    Jake Gibson
    • Swift Child
    Sofina-Rose Hussain
    • Swift Child
    Peter-Lee Lowther
    • Swift Child
    • Director
      • Clio Barnard
    • Writers
      • Clio Barnard
      • Lila Rawlings
      • Oscar Wilde
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews50

    7.313K
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    Featured reviews

    7l_rawjalaurence

    Well filmed Examination of Life in Contemporary Northern England

    Based loosely on the Oscar Wilde story, THE SELFISH GIANT is set in contemporary Bradford, north England, and focuses on the lives of two boys, both of whom are misfits. Arbor (Conner Chapman) cannot fit in to high school life, and prefers to spend his time collecting scrap metal to help his impoverished family. His friend Swifty (Shaun Thomas) is emotionally softer, but proves brilliant at dealing with the prize horse of local dealer Kitten (Sean Gilder). With its washed-out colors and lengthy shots focusing on a grim post-industrial landscape, Clio Barnard's film looks at life on the margins, where families quite literally have to sell everything in order to survive. Despite their hardships, Arbor and Swifty forge a close friendship - so close, in fact, that we are both shocked and moved when tragedy strikes at the end of the film. THE SELFISH GIANT has strong links to Ken Loach's KES in its portrayal of contemporary working-class culture. The dialog is harsh and uncompromising, while the two central performances are memorable. There are certain rough edges - Gilder's Kitten comes across as rather two-dimensional, while his wife Mary (Lorraine Ashbourne) is almost too good to be true - but the film is definitely worth watching more than once.
    8Sergeant_Tibbs

    Single-handedly puts my faith back in British filmmaking. Powerful, unforgettable.

    Since Shane Meadows hit us with phenomenal This Is England in 2007, there's been a dusty spot on the mantle of gritty kitchen sink dramas that truly capture the modern current of low- class British life. Fish Tank has been the only contender since but it doesn't feel like it has stuck as firmly as England, which then spawned several mini-series that I really should watch. Instead, British film seems to be concerned with crowd-pleasers after the roaring but typical success of The King's Speech. BAFTA nominees for Best British Film have been questionable this year, with big budget or mainstream films such as Gravity, Mandela, Philomena, Rush and Saving Mr. Banks, all with big stars on their shoulders. The only exception in the bunch is Clio Barnad's The Selfish Giant, and is the only one that truly deserves the honour. Now that Steve McQueen has stepped firmly into the limelight with the powerful 12 Years A Slave, I must urge that Barnard is the next under-the-radar British voice that needs to be heard.

    Loosely based off Oscar Wilde's short story of the same name, Clio Barnard's vision is comparable to a Ken Loach slice-of-life style but rather than the sloppiness and lack of clarity that style can bring, it's startlingly energetic and tight in its delivery. It immediately engages you with its opening scene of a cathartic pounding of rage under a claustrophobic bed then a sincerely moving image of holding hands, all from angry underprivileged boys. It's a rough world depicted here. Conflict is around every corner without exception. Characters step outside and witness kids chased down the street. The harshest swear words are thrown around without much regard for their consequence. It's intimidating, but our characters embrace it and dive in with both feet. It's a world of scroungers, those that see the resale value in everything and abuse that opportunity. It's a bleak life, but the film executes it in such an honest way that it doesn't feel preachy in the way that this is the limits of quality of life and future in the working- class north. Their immoral tunnel vision is one of necessity rather than choice. It's a cruel situation that the film immerses you without comfort.

    While there may be a touch of melodrama with the theme of the mother's concern and the pacing it thrives off of seems unnatural, what makes the film work is that it still feels authentic in its performances and script. It's perfectly reflected in its terrific cinematography. It's rough and raw, but it's well-measured in its framing and characters don't get lost in its saturation. The real revelation is its lead performance, Connor Chapman, who gives a genuine and confident performance for his age. Mature, if not sophisticated, beyond his years to be able to take on a brutish character like this with such fearlessness. At first you feel animosity towards him, then a deep pity burrows deeper and deeper. Then the film utterly shatters your heart with its inevitable Shakespearean tragedy making it an unforgettable experience. Any doubts I had about the films power hinges on those fateful final 15 minutes. It may be bleak, but there's a thin ray of hope bursting through the grey clouds. The Selfish Giant single-handedly puts my faith back in British independent filmmaking. I hope this sparks a new era.

    8/10
    9tipps561

    A new Loach in the making?

    I have to confess I have a 'soft spot' for realist British drama and any film featuring scrapyards and neglected locations nearly always gets a high rating for me.

    Having seen Clio Barnard's previous film 'The Arbor' a couple of years back, I was curious to see her next feature and it's well worth the price of admission. Her style and subject matter here remind me of Andrea Arnold's 'Fish Tank' and also a little of Rufus Norris's dysfunctional family in 'Broken', both of which were high on my score sheet.

    The two young leads are outstanding, even if their strong northern accents are sometimes hard to follow for me, a southerner, and the portrayal of exclusion, its consequences and repercussions is handled brilliantly by the film makers as you are immersed in their world for what feels far longer than the 90 minutes running time.

    See it and appreciate that British drama is alive and kicking. I look forward to her next project.
    9snidgeskin

    Warm

    The two leads, as unknowns, are superb, as are all the child actors in this.

    Of the adults it is clearly led by the performance of the three lead female actors (four: I should include the school receptionist). But this film has such an almost documentary feel about it you can forgive any of the acting that may feel a little strained or unnatural (perhaps because of a lacking in the script?).

    There are some wonderfully emotionally funny scenes equally matched by ones of sadness. People often use words such as grim, depressing or bleak. But this is Britain as it is; which is about looking for the humour and humanity beyond the circumstance of living. If you haven't been in Britain, then you might be forgiven, if you live here then maybe you have been sheltered: This is really how life can be; but it is far more a story about a boy's journey to manhood.

    As a statement on modern society then it speaks volumes to say that nothing is different now as from when it's 60's counterpart Kes was made, or for that matter in anytime in our history.

    But for me it won on all levels for it's such strong sense of humanity, on Arbor's journey of discovery, which was lacking, somewhat, in Kes.
    10R-Clercx

    A masterpiece that will hit you like a brick

    The Selfish Giant shows basically how capitalism works: not by making an academic movie with statistical figures, but by telling the highly capturing dramatic story of two teenagers in an English community who need to collect scrap to make ends meet.

    They are no longer motivated in studying, because the bills need to be payed by the end of the month. At school they are expelled because of their frustrated behavior. Their family is in ruin due to the stress caused by not earning enough money.

    In their quest for scrap they see how the best thief's also gain the most money. So eventually they turn to criminal behavior. Not by choice, but by necessity. Making money becomes separated from doing 'the right thing' to do.

    The director does a good job not telling this as a straight forward moral tale, nor using sentimental 'tricks', nor trying to pretend that all ends well. But telling it as an illustration on a human level in an ordinary community where the downside of our economic model is not theory but reality.

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Clio Barnard based Arbor and Swifty on two children she met while filming The Arbor (2010) who worked as scrappers.
    • Quotes

      Policeman: This is a formal interview under caution. Do you understand that, Fenton? Hey, do you understand?

      Arbor: Yeah.

      Policeman: A witness saw two youths burning railway or communications cable.

      Michelle 'Shelly' Fenton: That's nowt to do with him.

      Policeman: Cable theft is a very serious crime, Mrs. Fenton. Trespass on the railway is £1,000 fine.

      Arbor: I ain't been on railway.

      Policeman: Vandalism, endangering lives, maximum penalty of life imprisonment.

      Michelle 'Shelly' Fenton: He's just a kid. He ain't nicked no cable. You're looking at wrong place.

      Policeman: He is, as you say, Mrs. Fenton, a minor. There's unscrupulous people out there getting kids to do their dirty work so they don't get into trouble with the police themselves.

    • Connections
      Featured in At the Movies: Episode #10.23 (2013)
    • Soundtracks
      Conspiracy
      by Bill Brown

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    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • October 25, 2013 (United Kingdom)
    • Country of origin
      • United Kingdom
    • Official site
      • Official Facebook
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Bencil Dev
    • Filming locations
      • Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, UK(city)
    • Production companies
      • British Film Institute (BFI)
      • Film4
      • Moonspun Films
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $12,189
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $2,589
      • Dec 22, 2013
    • Gross worldwide
      • $1,114,027
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 31 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Dolby Digital
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.85 : 1
      • 2.35 : 1

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