SYNOPSIS: Soon to turn eleven Reine (Tomas Fryk) doesn't wish to grow up, he thinks puberty will make him a "swine," which is how he views the few men in his life. With his mother planning on being out of town while he is supposed to be at summer camp, Reine opts to ditch the train and stay home alone for the summer - with dire consequences.

EDITORIAL REVIEW: Barnens ö (The Children’s Island) is a gem if a little movie from those groundbreaking filmmakers in Sweden. It stars the young Tomas Fryk as Reine, a soon to be 11 year-old Swedish boy who thinks growing up is the worst thing in the world.  His outlook on humanity and growing up is a bleak and disturbing world.  His only interaction with adults is with his mother, who has very limited time for her son, and his mother’s boyfriend, Stig, man who doesn’t exactly fit the “positive male role model” category.  Reine's outlook on adulthood is almost as bleak as the era in which this film was shot. While he slowly makes his way into puberty, he keeps a daily audio journal of all the changes his body is going through.

In search of the perfect job, his mother (played by Anita Ekström) accepts a summer position at a hotel in the next town over.  She informs Reine that he must now spend the summer at a sleep-away camp, The Children’s Island. Reine instead decides to “miss” the bus to the camp, turn around, and march right back home where he will spend the rest of the summer once his mother leaves. One last ditch effort to enjoy his “remaining” days as a “pure” child.

Shocking (according to Western standards) and moving at times. Winner of Best Director, Best Actor, and Best Film at Sweden's Guldbagge Awards in 1981.  Director Kay Pollack was nominated for the Golden Berlin Bear at the 1981 Berlin International Film Festival.  Powerful story with strong acting seldom seen with coming of age films made in Hollywood. Fryk has no shame, and does a superb job considering what was required of him to make this film.

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STARRING: Tomas Fryk, Anita Ekström, Ingvar Hirdwall, Börje Ahlstedt, Lars-Erik Berenett.
DIRECTOR: Kay Pollack
LENGTH: 110 minutes.
LANGUAGE: Swedish, with OPTIONAL ENGLISH SUBTITLES.
SPECIAL FEATURES: 1.33:1 (4:3 Full Screen); 2.0 Stereo; 1 disc; Chapter selection; Uncut.
VIEWER DISCRETION: Extensive nudity, strong sexual situations that may offend, violence; coarse language.
PICTURE QUALITY: Excellent picture quality. (what's this mean?)
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Sweden (1980).
ALSO KNOWN AS: Children's Island, The (English title).
DATE ADDED TO OUR LIBRARY:  January 2003, January 2004 (English subtitles); June 2006 (Improved English subtitles); March 24, 2009 Collector's Edition re-release.
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