Meu Verão Extraordinário com Tess

The world is not just America and England. Cinema isn't just about blockbuster movies and gaudy festivals. Somewhere movies are being made about the little world of little people. Not for money, fame, reward. This movie is one of them.

Coming of age movies have become a rare genre and excellent ones even rarer. My Extraordinary Summer with Tess deserves a place with the classics, a near perfect C of A movie.

To begin with, the scenery around the Dutch island is fabulous. I always wondered what those Friesland islands look like, and now I know. Miles of nearly empty white sand beaches, but beware of the muddy quicksand at low tide, as you will see. In addition, the lighthouse becomes, to me, an important character.

Eleven-year-old, Josephine Arendsen plays Tess and switches between moods lightning fast. Unlike many off the present day crop of Coming of Age movies, she is utterly real. Not adorable, not particularly feminine or pretty, or nerdy, she just comes across as a real person. I suppose my favorite part is when she shows Sam, the young boy who falls in love with her, her diary documenting the search for her father. Sam, bumbles his way through being Tess' companion in her search, his relationship with her echoing through his head while he wanders the island training himself to be alone.

I am not much of a reviewer, but since this movie doesn't seem to have a review, and was featured on IMDb today, I wanted to let folks know that I have included my copy along with the best of Coming of Age movies and highly recommend it.