2023 CAMDEN INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL REVIEW!
In Patten, Maine there is a young boy named George Ellis, and he spends his days working at his family’s grocery store, serving mass, singing opera, and reaching out to the local loons. Little Boy Loon is the story of George as he navigates the narrow but beautiful streets of his small town. He loves the wilderness, and that’s where this film finds him most often–out in the wilderness calling for birds.
Little Boy Loon is just a beautiful story and stunning film–something that will likely reach out and touch anyone that is willing to give it a chance. The film is so simple, and it follows a supremely simple subject. George is just a boy that goes about his life, but he’s so interesting–so uniquely different from the children that I see on a daily basis. George is so grounded, so in tune with the things that play out in the world around us–and he so deeply understands the nature that surrounds him. There’s something very entertaining about George, something about the way he speaks, about the way in which he analyzes the world that makes him the perfect subject for a documentary. Narrated entirely by George, Little Boy Loon doesn’t wait to thrust us into his orbit, to express to the world who he is and what he does with his life. He remains front and center throughout the course of Little Boy Loon, and I loved every minute of it.
Much like viewers are thrown into George’s orbit, we are thrown into nature as well. While there is footage from the church and the grocery store–Little Boy Loon takes place primarily outside in the wide open. While the film focuses on one boy, the scope of the film is much larger. Being out in nature throughout the course of the film allows viewers to see a bigger picture. One of the beautiful things about the film, beside the scenery, is the fact that the aforementioned “bigger picture” isn’t just one thing–and Little Boy Loon allows viewers to form their own opinions and come to their own conclusions. We are never herded or guided in a particular direction, always given the autonomy to think what we want and apply it to the film however we see fit (and vice versa).
This film constantly made me think. Questions from “what is the point of this?” to “how does George make that noise?” rattled my brain from beginning to end–and the fact that Little Boy Loon makes me question every second of it is tremendous. Again, I don’t think that it’s the goal of Directors Kevin Bay and Julia Thompson to make viewers think one thing, and I can almost guarantee that nearly every viewer will come away from this film with something unique. Whether it’s the scenery, the narration, or something else entirely–Little Boy Loon forces viewers to think and ask questions. With it never relenting in this regard, the film is sure to reach viewers and have them playing along from beginning to end.
Bay and Thompson take such a simple concept, a young boy who likes to make bird calls, and blows it up into something extraordinary. George fills the screen every time he’s given the opportunity, and Bay and Thompson ensure that everything else in the film works to support him. Little Boy Loon is a film that will force viewers to ask questions, and not a second will go by where viewers don’t both question the film’s validity and adore its many purposes.
Directed by Kevin Bay & Julia Thompson.
Starring George Ellis.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐½/10
Comments