Saturday 22 June 2013

Edinburgh international Film Festival - Big Boy

A couple in the Phillipines are obsessed with making their young son grow, so they pull on his limbs and feed him with a 'growth serum'. Set against archive footage of the neo-colonail aid given to the Phillipines by the USA during the period after the Second World war, this is an interesting exploration of the idea that bigger is necessarily better and whether development should be foisted on a country by an outside power or whether it should be indigenous.

There are beautiful shots here of the Phillipines tropical forest and interesting scenes of family life. But the film has a very homemade and structureless feel that either adds authenticity or just irritates depending on your point of view.

Big Boy is showing as part of the Edinburgh international Film Festival:

1820, 24 June and 1700, 30 June both at Filmhouse.

Disclaimer, I have a press pass for the Edinburgh International Film Festival and attended a free press screening of this film.

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