The real goal of the adult who loves cinema could be to cultivate the passion for film films together with their children
Like any narration, the cinematographic language manages to stimulate the need for the human being to enjoy stories. A film favors identification in the characters, opening up new perspectives on reality and cultivating empathy. In an era more and more marked by a visual culture, it would be desirable not to consider the film as a content that replaces the book, but which indeed integrates with the forms of written narrative or with graphic novel. What are the best children’s movies? In particular, for i guys from 12 years oldafter examining the reference films for children it would be desirable to use audiovisual products also to encourage reading novels. Which, from the classics to get to a lot of “excellent” contemporary literature for children, offer precious stimuli.
If the film does not replace but integrates novels and paper reading, then it can become an interesting language, especially useful for explicitly tackling complex and significant themes even when the boy manages to “jump” between the film and the literary text. It is interesting to note the dialogue that is created between these two texts, both rich in ideas. A criterion for choosing children for children and therefore more appropriate for teenagers can be really going to select narratives to be faced both with the novel and the film film.
Furthermore, given that the premature immersion in media contexts contributes to anticipating the beginning of adolescence, resorting consciously to some films can become an interesting strategy to reflect and to help understand new points of view.
More than focusing on films that we can consider “didactic” (that is, with precise purposes with respect to learning a discipline), in this article we try to ask ourselves about “training” films; that can expand our points of view on realityopen ourselves to an active confrontation with the differences and stimulate effective reflections on complex themes. As already made for the films aimed at children up to 11 years, it specifies that the age limits are only indicative and that, especially for those intended for the little ones, it can still be interesting to propose the vision even in subsequent ages; With more caution, of course, the opposite can be done, that is, to anticipate the vision of the films.
Best children’s movies aged 12 to 13
From 12 to 13 years old, entering the first grade secondary school and looking out in the adolescence period, the boy or girl can be stimulated by narratives that are able to express its point of view. Just as a quality criterion of childhood narratives can be identified in his ability to speak from the perspective of the boy or the girl, in the same way those narratives are interesting that They manage to bring out the emotions, the moods, the desires, but also the fears of teenagers. Let’s see the best children’s movies aged 12 to 13:
- A bridge for Terabithia (2007, Gàbor Csupò), the film speaks of a 12 -year -old boy who develops a friendship with a new classmate, who, like him, is the victim of exclusion by his companions: through fantasy, the two protagonists They build an imaginary world with which to escape from everyday life and situations that create discomfort for their adolescence. The two protagonists become king and queen of the city of Teramo and, in interpreting this role, emotions are experienced and explores the risks trying to transform them in opportunities. This “pretending” contributes to nourishing their concrete relationships, especially at school. The film also faces the taboo of death, effectively and not obvious;
- Hugo Cabret (2011, Martin Scorsese), one of the most important directors of the last decades, Martin Scorsese, proposes an interesting narrative to go to the origins of cinema and narrate the adventure of Georges Mélies, one of the fathers of the history of cinema and in particular of the ‘animation. In the history, set in the 1930s, Hugo Cabret, an orphan of 12 years, is used to restore an automaton built by his father and comes into contact with an elderly owner of a toys of toys. The film, full of quotes and tributes, is an interesting starting point and then deepen the figure of Méliès;
- Music in the heart – August Rush (2007, Kirsten Sheridan), who escaped from an orphanage, August Rush, puts himself in search of his parents in New York. The real protagonist of the film is the music, which August is responsible with competence, thanks to a natural talent. Precisely this talent and this active relationship with music brings August to orient themselves within the city and find their parents, precisely two musicians. It is interesting to the way music becomes an instrument of salvation and how the boy also manages to escape from adults (in particular, the magician) who try to exploit it;
- Les Choristes – The Choir boys (2004, Christopher Barratier), the film is the remake of a film from the 1940s (The cage of the Usignoliby Dreville) and narrates the story of a composer and music teacher who, who remained without work, accepts the assignment of supervisor in a school, which is based on a punitive educational method. Precisely through the choir, the teacher is the bearer of an active school model, which subverts the conforming educational model and leaves room for each student to form free and authenticly;
- Life is beautiful (1997, Roberto Benigni), it will be obvious to quote a film winner of three Oscar awards among the suggestions, but sometimes we think is superfluous and we risk forgetting the “classics”. Benigni’s narration offers an extraordinary point of view to reflect on the ferocity of war and the risks of racism, using the extraordinary tool of irony. Think, for example, of the translation of the German General’s speech in the extermination field, or the intervention of Benigni in the school to enhance the beauty of his calf;
- The island of dogs (2018, Wes Anderson), inspired by the novel by Patricia Cornwell, the film of the well -known American director, with a renowned cast (Bill Murray, above all) uses the animation technique to develop a story that moves between the adventure And the comedy, in a fantastic and dystopian scenario. A dystopia, which in many respects is the premonitory of the pandemic that we have experienced: in 2038, in fact, a flu has struck all the dogs of Japan and therefore the mayor of the city sent all the dogs in quarantine on an island. At the center of the film, ecological themes and the importance of taking care of the other.
Best children’s movies aged 14 to 15
In this age group, it is possible to deal with more complex themes, which they favor deep reflections on the selfon relationships with others (and in particular on who is different from me) and on the world (and therefore on an ecological dimension). Here are the best children’s movies aged 14 to 15:
- The four hundred shots (1959, François Truffaut): In truth, rather than quoting a film, I would suggest the entire filmography of Truffaut. From The wild guy to The years in your pocketeven a Jules And Jim (however advisable to a subsequent age). Set in Paris in the 1950s, the four hundred shots (whose literary translation should be “to be a devil to four”) talks about adolescence and his need to be free, not to see his aspirations suffocate. The protagonist finds himself in a situation of incommunicability with his parents and constantly manifests his restlessness. The film also speaks of friendship and legitimizes the “escape”, to be understood also as a way to continue dreaming;
- Big fish (2003, Tim Burton): Tim Burton is another director whose production is largely suitable for an audience of teenagers for his way of telling that he stimulates fantasy, binding to contexts and concrete situations. As well Edward hands scissor of the 90s can be seen by everyone (at any age), also Big Fish – inspired by Wallace’s novel of the same name – turns to a large audience and can be a useful reflection: the theme is the reconciliation between a dying father e the son, faced through a profound reflection on the power of the narrative;
- Captain Fantastic (2016, Matt Ross): the film offers a stimulating reflection on how much technological progress often risks producing a detachment from reality. A family who chooses to live in the woods, following the lifestyle of hunters and collectors, must confront, following the death of the mother, with civilization. The film does not offer answers, but stimulates reflections on which drifts and what resources offers contemporary civilization;
- Almost enemies (2017, Yvan Attal): having to select among many texts, I resort to an expedient, so as to name two. Yes, because it’s not a typo and I’m not quoting Almost friends (which you will have seen and in any case I recommend, of Nakache and Toletano, from 2013 and who speaks of friendship and difference with great refinement). Attal’s French film sets in a university classroom the meeting (and conflict) between differences, in particular religious differences. However, the text is also a splendid “manifesto” for interculture and manages to propose profound reflections on the theme;
- Welcome (2009, Philippe Lioret): the film immerses the viewer in the perspective of a migrant who, in an attempt to reach his beloved, is blocked in Calais after having fled Iraq. Discovered before being able to reach the United Kingdom, it is convinced that the only way to get to your destination is to take the sleeve swimming and finds the welcome of a grunt swimming teacher, who finds himself with himself in relating to himself. The film accompanies an effective reflection on the absurdity of the use of the word “clandestine” referring to a human being;
- No man’s land (2001, Danis Tanovic): set in 1993, in the middle of the Balkan war, the film is an extraordinary starting point against the absurdity of the war. By playing on the role that stereotypes and prejudices in feeding the hatred of the other play and masterfully using irony, the film denounces the ferocity of the conflict, but also the inability to find solutions. In a “middle ground”, the quarrel between two soldiers, one Serbian and the other Bosnian, ends up in the background when it turns out that a soldier believed to be dead, to whom a mine had been put under his body, is alive and With his movement he could jump in the air and his companions.
How to choose movies showing guys?
With adolescence, the idea of ”showing” films to the boys should actually be a bit questioned. Real objective of an adult who loves cinema towards his son or daughter could be that of cultivate the passion for film films.
From the previous list, splendid films remained outside, which could be recommended: Dr. Strangelove by Stanley Kubrick, The garden of the suicide virgins by Sofia Coppola, Back to the future by Robert Zemeckis, History of a book thief by Brian Percival, The fleeting moment by Peter Weir, The wave by Dennis Gansel and many others. A suggestion that can be useful is to help the boy or girl a Choose movies according to the theme.
And, in this regard, a reading advice launched: in 2021 he came out, published by Mondadori, a nice volume by Manlio Castagna (who worked a lot for cinema and is also a writer for children) entitled 116 films to watch before the age of 16. In this text the cataloging made in 10 themes is interesting: love, family, fantastic worlds, becoming great, war, masters of life, disease and death, school, dreams and passions, struggle for survival. The topics dealt with that the hope should be towards a variety of genres: from comedies and action films, from fantasy to documentary, from thriller to the historian and so on.
