WHEN WE WERE BOYS (Canada 2009) ****
Directed by Sarah Goodman

Though this documentary does not concern a controversial subject or some information that the world needs be revealed, Sarah Goodman’s (ARMY OF ONE) seemingly ordinary documentary is an extraordinary film for many reasons.  The main one is the film’s simplicity.

Granted rare access to the lives of two boys Noah and Colin during their grades 8 to their senior year, WHEN WE WERE BOYS tells the daily lives of the two schoolboys.  Noah is the serious one while Colin the playful jester.  If not goofing around or playing video games, Goodman’s camera takes her audience into their private lives of the classroom, swimming pool and other assorted activities.  Though nothing much apparently happens on screen, there is much to be read between the lines (or rather between the images).  Goodman relevantly ties in a classroom lesson of LORD OF THE FLIES as the behaviour of the schoolboys mirror those in the classic tale.

The film’s best segment has a speech given during an assembly about how important lives can be shaped.  The camera focuses on the many reactions of the students, most of them bored (ironically) by the advice given.  This scene reminds one of Francois Truffuat famous scene of the Punch and Judy beach segment in L’ARGENT DE POCHE which the camera reveals the different reactions of the children watching the show.

Goodman’s film definitely reminds what it is to be young, free and impressionable.  She has made a deeply touching film about a short span in the lives of two protagonists that reflects the youth in us all.

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