15 films about children that adults should watch

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

This movie makes you think and become kinder.

1. Four hundred strokes

• France, 1959.
• Drama.
• Duration: 99 minutes.
• IMDb: 8, 1.

François Truffaut's debut film follows the life of a difficult teenager named Antoine Doinelle (Jean-Pierre Leo). The boy, without much success, is trying to find a common language with his parents and school teachers. But his best intentions end sadly every time.

For example, to write a good school essay, Antoine lights a candle for writer Honore de Balzac in an impromptu home altar. As a result, the curtains were set on fire at the house, and the teacher calls Doinel a plagiarist because he copied everything from his beloved Balzac.

The main character finds himself in a correctional home for difficult children. And all because of the ridiculous theft of a typewriter from his stepfather's office.

Later Truffaut made several more films that continued the story of Antoine Doinel: "Antoine and Colette" (1962), "Stolen Kisses" (1968), "Family hearth" (1970) and "Runaway Love" (1979). Moreover, the same actor plays Antoine at different age stages - Truffaut's favorite and the legend of the French new wave Jean-Pierre Leo.

2. To Kill a Mockingbird

• USA, 1962.
• Drama.
• Duration: 129 minutes.
• IMDb: 8, 3.

The central character is the lone lawyer Atticus Finch (Gregory Peck), a noble, wise and kind man who brings up his son Jim (Phillip Alford) and daughter Jean Louise (Mary Badham), nicknamed Scout.

Finch is appointed attorney for African-American Tom Robinson, accused of rape, which he did not commit. In parallel, the viewer observes the gradual maturation of Jim and Jean Louise, who have to understand how much pain and injustice are around.

Robert Mulligan's painting based on the immortal novel by Harper Lee was nominated for eight Oscars, of which he took three: for the acting work of Gregory Peck, for the best adapted screenplay and for the best scenery.

3. Welcome or No unauthorized entry

• USSR, 1964.
• Comedy.
• Duration: 74 minutes.
• IMDb: 8, 2.

Kostya Inochkin (Viktor Kosykh) fined, barely crossing the threshold of the pioneer camp - swam across the river without permission. The manager Dynin (Evgeny Evstigneev) - a boring cracker, careerist and formalist - immediately excludes Kostya so that other children, looking at him, do not become the same violators.

Only now Kostya, not wanting to upset his beloved grandmother, instead of going home, secretly returns to the camp. Friends help the hapless exile hide from Dynin and feed him food from the dining room. Suddenly, children learn about the upcoming parenting day. If Kostya's grandmother comes there, the deception can be revealed. So the heroes are trying with all their might to disrupt the approach of the event.

Everyone will like the debut work of Elem Klimov, but only adults will really understand it. After all, the film was conceived as a satirical comedy, ridiculing the shortcomings of not only the Soviet education system, but also the whole country. Even the very title of the film, which combines phrases that are opposite in meaning, is a caustic attack on the double standards of Soviet society.

4. The eccentric from the fifth "B"

• USSR, 1972.
• Comedy.
• Duration: 86 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 8.

The plot, based on the story of Vladimir Zheleznikov, tells about the fifth-grader Bor with the furious surname Zbanduto (Andrei Voinovsky) - a hooligan and an inventor. Ironically, he is appointed to a position that requires discipline and responsibility - a leader in the first class. Gradually skeptical, Boris sincerely fell in love with the first-graders entrusted to him and at the same time learned to take responsibility for his words and actions.

The light comedy by Ilya Fraz is very different from the dramatic story of Zheleznikov (by the way, he wrote The Scarecrow, after which Rolan Bykov staged his famous film). Also, for the picture, many of the characters that appeared in the story were removed and some details were changed. For example, the bookish Boris was a sixth grader.

5. Paper moon

• USA, 1973.
• Comedy.
• Duration: 102 minutes.
• IMDb: 8, 1.

The action takes place in the United States during the Great Depression. Rogue Moses Prey (Ryan O'Neill) - a sort of American Ostap Bender - stops by his mistress's funeral and gets a load of Eddie (Tatum O'Neill), a gloomy and non-stop smoking underage orphan.

The main characters, played by a father and daughter, constantly find themselves in hilarious situations that cause both laughter and sadness. For the role of a little smoker, Eddie Tatum O'Neill won an Oscar and became the youngest owner of a prestigious statuette in history.

6. Alice in the cities

• Germany, 1973.
• Drama.
• Duration: 110 minutes.
• IMDb: 8, 0.

Wim Wenders' poignant film tells how amateur photographer Philip Winter (Rüdiger Vogler), burdened with affairs and problems, finds himself alone with a little girl Alice (Yella Rottlender). In search of the baby's relatives, they embark on a journey through the cities of Europe, which will make Philippe look at life differently.

In this lyrical and very subtle film, there is almost no plot and there is not even an ending that is familiar to the viewer. First of all, this is a movie about sensations. And it is perceived like an album with your favorite photos.

7. Alien

• USA, 1982.
• Science fiction, drama, adventure, family.
• Duration: 115 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 9.

A group of harmless alien explorers accidentally forget one of their fellow tribesmen on Earth. A small alien, left alone on an unfamiliar planet, finds a friend in the person of ten-year-old Elliot (Henry Thomas). But their idyll does not last long: after all, the American military does not sleep and is looking for an invader everywhere.

The plot is based on the children's fantasy of Steven Spielberg himself. The director said that as a child he invented an alien friend. It made it easier for him to cope with his trauma caused by his parents' divorce.

8. Scarecrow

• USSR, 1983.
• Drama.
• Duration: 127 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 9.

Sixth-grader Lena Bessoltseva (Christina Orbakaite) moves to live with her grandfather Nikolai Nikolaevich (Yuri Nikulin) in a small provincial town. The locals do not particularly like the old man for his unsociable nature. And their children turn out to be no better. First, they give Lena the nickname Scarecrow, and then they even declare a brutal boycott for an offense that she did not commit.

Rolan Bykov's film, like the story of the same name by Vladimir Zheleznikov, raises a difficult topic of child cruelty, about which many are still afraid to speak. When the picture was shown in cinemas, after the sessions, the touched spectators came out in tears.

However, there were those who scolded the director for distorting reality by portraying Soviet children as merciless animals. Only life itself suggested the plot of the story to Zheleznikov: a similar sad story happened to his granddaughter. And the problem of bullying in schools has always existed and is still relevant.

9. Endless story

• Germany, USA, 1984.
• Fantasy, drama, adventure film.
• Duration: 97 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 4.

Little dreamer Bastian Books (Barrett Oliver), after the death of his mother, cannot find a common language with his father. One day Bastian "borrows" a book about an imaginary land of Fantasy in an old second-hand bookstore. Reading, he understands that in some incomprehensible way he became a part of the events described in the work.

Everyone, except for the author of the primary literary source, liked the kind fairy tale about the benefits of imagination. The writer Michael Ende considered the painting tasteless and even unsuccessfully sued its creators.

10. Bridge to Terabithia

• USA, 2007.
• Drama, adventure, family, fantasy.
• Duration: 90 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 2.

The unsociable boy Jess Aarons (Josh Hutcherson) is a black sheep at school and at home. But everything changes his friendship with Leslie Burke (Anna-Sophia Robb), who recently entered the class. The girl turns out to be an incredible dreamer. Together, Jess and Leslie come up with a whole world called Terabithia, which becomes their shared secret.

The film is based on the story of the same name by the American writer Catherine Paterson. And the script was written by her son, David Paterson.

Although the film may seem a little too pretentious, it definitely needs to be watched to the end. After all, it is the scenes after the unexpected final turn that make "The Bridge to Terabithia" a very adult and sincere picture.

11. Kingdom of the full moon

• USA, 2012.
• Tragicomedy.
• Duration: 90 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 8.

Teenagers in love - Sam (Jared Gilman), who was abandoned by the next adoptive parents, and the silent Susie (Kara Hayward) - run away in search of a place where they can be happy. Meanwhile, the search party of Boy Scouts is everywhere looking for the obstinate couple.

The seventh painting by the beautiful Wes Anderson in his special lyrical manner tells about the kind of love that only children are capable of: absolute, unique and for life.

12. Saint Vincent

• USA, 2014.
• Tragicomedy.
• Duration: 102 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 2.

Veteran Vincent McKenna (Bill Murray) is far from an angel. He is forever in debt, loves to drink, is in love with a Russian prostitute and constantly loses at the races. In a word, he gives the impression of an evil, cynical, indifferent to those around him old man.

But fate brings Vincent to a twelve-year-old schoolboy Oliver (Jaden Liberer). And the child suddenly turns out to be the only one who managed to look into the soul of the grumpy veteran: it turns out that behind the external rudeness is not such a bad person.

13. Adolescence

• USA, 2014.
• Drama, parable.
• Duration: 163 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 9.

The film covers 12 years of the life of an ordinary boy named Mason Evans (Ellar Coltrane) and tells about his relationship with his parents and his gradual maturation. In parallel, events from American history are shown, starting with the war in Iraq and ending with the presidency of Barack Obama.

The tape stands out not only on our list, but also in world cinema. The fact is that the film is a unique experiment: it was filmed for 11 years with one actor in the lead role.

14. Project "Florida"

• USA, 2017.
• Drama, tragicomedy.
• Duration: 109 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 6.

Sean Baker's independent film follows the lives of little girl Mooney (Brooklyn Prince) and her mother, Hayley (Bria Vinaite), who can't find themselves in modern America. After losing her job, Haley tries to scramble out as best she can, but ends up on the panel.

Meanwhile, her daughter explores the surroundings with childlike spontaneity in search of adventure. And all this takes place against the backdrop of an unattainable Disneyland, where Mooney and her friends will never be able to get.

15. Shoplifters

• Japan, 2018.
• Drama.
• Duration: 121 minutes.
• IMDb: 8, 0.

Osamu Shibata is a humble Japanese worker. His family is on the edge of poverty and in fact only lives on his grandmother's pension. They are kept afloat by petty theft from shops, the art of which Osamu and his son Shota have perfected.

One day Osamu finds a little chilled girl on the street and takes her home. At first, the Shibata family is going to return her to her parents. But it soon becomes clear that their own child is simply not needed.

Without trying to condemn anyone, the film delicately poses the question to the viewer: what is a real family? And the answer is clear: sometimes those who are genetically nobody to you can treat you better than relatives.