Goodbye Boys

Malaysia 2006

Picture and details redfilms

Seen 2 October 2006

The title says it all. The end of boyhood and the beginning of a new phase in any teenager's life. A realisation that adulthood is beckoning and beguilling with its myriad of possibilities. The coming of age journey of eight boys while they hike through the countryside. Their aim to get the Scout's King's Badge. But they also discover their inner selves and have a keener sense of the world around them at the end of the journey. Most of the actors are amateurs and it shows in some scenes when if feels like they were delivering long soliloquys. The photography and art direction is commendable as we get to see the old towns and remnants of the glory days of the tin mining areas. Good effort but the voice over of each character sometimes feel too much like commandments along the lines of "we must do good unto thy neighbour".