Eight

I didn't know a whole lot about this film when I saw it at a Leicester Square Cinema, only that the scriptwriter Tim Clague had picked up the prestigious Jerwood Prize.

It appeared before Practical Magic and frankly I know which film I would watch again out of the two.

This film is a funny but tender snapshot of a day in the life of a small boy relocated from Liverpool to the South Coast.

The script is warm and human and I've yet to see another film that can through so few words accurately depict the naturalness of youth.

Hopefully we'll see far more of Tim and his work in the future, I personally would like to see how his dialogue could expand to a feature length piece. The UK film industry looks in good shape with this type of talent ready to surface.

Jonathon is an eight year old who is struggling to come to terms with the loss of his father and the fact that he has just moved to a new town with his mother. We spend a day in his company as he talks about his thoughts, runs along the beach and watches Owen scoring against Argentina in the World Cup in France during 1998. He wears it well for a child but Jonathon says more than he thinks he does about his feelings.

The year before he made Billy Elliott, Stephen Daldry made this short film which he himself describes as a trial run for that feature. Certainly in terms of visuals and the subject of childhood feelings, this is a good run up and also a good story in its own right. The film opens with an annoyingly loud eight year old shouting at the sky – an experience that those non-parents among us will shudder at, but happily such scenes are dispensed with after this point. Instead what we are given is a very well written story with a constant narration from Jonathon himself. The dialogue feels very natural and yet also reveals quite a lot in the way a child would. Some of what is said is touching and I was surprised that the writer had done such a good job of writing words that sound natural from an 8 year old but also managed to get a lot of meaning into them.

The delivery is also excellent. Daldry's direction is really good and the film certainly doesn't look like one of the many low budget short films that I have seen – it felt really professional and looked great whether it was on a beach or in a bedroom. The minimal kitchen set was my favourite, with Jonathon's mother visibly upset through one of those serving hatch window things – clever shot I thought. The real surprise of the piece was my third surprising child performance of the day (the first two were in The Return) from Langan-Evans; he is natural, confident and delivers his lines well. He may not have fully understood what he was being asked to say but he delivers his lines like he was really thinking them himself.

Overall this is a really good little short film. The production values and direction make it feel very professional indeed and the writing is natural and very well observed throughout. A great, confident little performance from Langan-Evans in the lead role only serves to make it better. A strong film indeed and if Daldry did use this as a run up to Billy Elliott then he certainly got off on the right foot.

This morning I watched this short film for the first time, and have since purchased my own copy. It is about an eight-year old boy called Jonathan and his attempts to come to terms with the absence of his father. During the thirteen minutes of run time we are given glimpses into Jonathan's daily routine as he lives out his fantasies as a world-class footballer and the son of a man who might, in this small boy's mind, have been anything, perhaps even an astronaut. But for me the single most poignant sequence in this movie sees Jonathan walking over and taking the extended hand of a father that has, whilst distracted, let go of his own son's hand. For a brief moment, before the man realises his mistake, Jonathan walks hand in hand with a father. The sequence is both tragic and comic and, despite the fact that it lasts only seconds, its impact remains.

However, this is more than just a movie about a fatherless little boy and his lonely, displaced mother. There is a deeper sadness that is revealed as the moments unfold.

The part of Jonathan is played by Jack Langan-Evans. Despite what seemed to be a natural ability to act, or at the very least be well-directed, Jack seems to have no further entries on IMDb. Filmed on the South Coast, with a minimum of characters, the scenes in the sand dunes are magnificent - even the wind plays its role perfectly.

I intend to watch this short film repeatedly and to force it upon everyone I know. Excellent.