Son of Rambow
Encyclopedia
Son of Rambow is a 2008 comedy-drama film
written and directed by Garth Jennings. The film premiered January 22, 2007 at the Sundance Film Festival
. It was later shown at the Newport Beach Film Festival
, Seattle International Film Festival
, Toronto International Film Festival
and Glasgow Film Festival
. The film was also shown at the 51st BFI London Film Festival
. Son of Rambow was released in the United Kingdom
on 4 April 2008 and opened in limited release
in the United States
on 2 May 2008. Set during an English summer during the early 1980s, the film is a coming of age
story about two schoolboys.
) is quiet and shy, and comes from a family that belongs to the strict Plymouth Brethren
religious sect
. Will is forbidden to watch films or television and is made to leave his classroom when the teacher puts on a documentary. In the corridor, he meets Lee Carter (Will Poulter
), the worst-behaved boy in school, thrown out of another class for bad behavior. They accidentally break a fish bowl in the corridor; Lee volunteers to take the blame, pretending that the punishment is torture, in exchange for Will's watch, which belonged to his dead father. Moreover Lee demands that Will performs the stunt
s in a film Lee is making with his bullying older brother, Lawrence's (Ed Westwick
), home video
equipment, which he uses in his video pirating enterprise. He intends to enter the Screen Test
Young Film-Makers' Competition.
Will accepts; after seeing the film First Blood
, he becomes very enthusiastic, and plays several dangerous action scenes. The two become best friends, but Will has to keep it secret from his family.
French exchange students arrive, of whom the suave Didier Revol (Jules Sitruk
) becomes very popular. He asks Will if he and his acolytes can play in the film, and Will agrees. Lee does not like this, as he is no longer in control, and finally quits after a fight with Will during filming of the last sequence, which takes place at a disused power station. After Will becomes trapped when part of the unstable structure collapses, Lee returns to ostensibly rescue his friend, but has actually come to collect his brother's camera. He too gets hurt, and has to go to hospital. Lawrence visits him, but is angry about the fact that the camera is broken.
Will's mother (Jessica Hynes), from whom he has struggled to hide his activities, finally realises that her son must be allowed to be himself and her family leaves the Brethren. When Lawrence looks at Lee's footage he is impressed. With Will's help, he adds a part in which he acts himself — including a message for his brother. When Lee leaves hospital, as a surprise he is brought to a cinema, where his film is shown before the main feature and the two boys reunite.
— collectively known as Hammer & Tongs
— worked on for some years. Its development was interrupted when they were asked to make The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
, and it is their second major feature film. It was inspired by Jennings' own experiences as a child in the 1980s, when video equipment first became available to the public, and the film recreates the atmosphere of an English comprehensive school
of the time, using a soundtrack of both familiar and lesser known pop tracks from the era.
, and the nearby Ashridge Estate owned and managed by the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty
Hertfordshire
: featuring Ashlyns School
and The Rex, a recently refurbished listed Art Deco
cinema which had been left derelict between 1989 and 2004. The two roads where both boys live are approximately 1200 metres apart, being located next to Berkhamsted Castle
. They are the two most exclusive residential roads in the town.
The film includes a vintage clip of Jan Pinkava
winning the BBC
Screen Test
competition. The minor role of Danny, an acolyte of Didier, a glamorous French exchange student
, is played by Stanley Kubrick's grandson, Sam Kubrick-Finney.
reported that 74% of critics gave the film positive reviews, based on 114 reviews. Metacritic
reported the film had an average score of 66 out of 100, based on 29 reviews.
The film appeared on several critics' top ten lists of the best films of 2008. Both Kimberly Jones of The Austin Chronicle and Ty Burr
of The Boston Globe
named it their eighth best, and Marc Savlov of The Austin Chronicle named it his ninth.
and Blu-ray disc
in the United Kingdom on 11 August 2008, and on DVD in the United States on 26 August 2008.
Reviews
Comedy-drama
Comedy-drama is a genre of theatre, film and television programs which combines humorous and serious content.-Theatre:Traditional western theatre, beginning with the ancient Greeks, was divided into comedy and tragedy...
written and directed by Garth Jennings. The film premiered January 22, 2007 at the Sundance Film Festival
2007 Sundance Film Festival
The 2007 Sundance Film Festival ran from January 18 until January 28, 2007 in Park City, Utah with screenings in Salt Lake City, Utah and Ogden, Utah. It was the 23-rd iteration of the Sundance Film Festival...
. It was later shown at the Newport Beach Film Festival
Newport Beach Film Festival
The Newport Beach Film Festival is a film festival in the United States held in Newport Beach, California, that showcases more than 350 films to more than 30,000 attendees annually....
, Seattle International Film Festival
Seattle International Film Festival
The Seattle International Film Festival , held annually in Seattle, Washington since 1976, is among the top film festivals in North America. Audiences have grown steadily; the 2006 festival had 160,000 attendees...
, Toronto International Film Festival
Toronto International Film Festival
The Toronto International Film Festival is a publicly-attended film festival held each September in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. In 2010, 339 films from 59 countries were screened at 32 screens in downtown Toronto venues...
and Glasgow Film Festival
Glasgow Film Festival
Glasgow Film Festival is an annual film festival based in Glasgow, Scotland, started in 2005.-2010:2010's festival took place between 18-28th February. The opening gala featured Jean-Pierre Jeunet's latest film, Micmacs with the director there to present the film. Other guests included Peter...
. The film was also shown at the 51st BFI London Film Festival
London Film Festival
The BFI London Film Festival is the UK's largest public film event, screening more than 300 features, documentaries and shorts from almost 50 countries. The festival, , currently in its 54th year, is run every year in the second half of October under the umbrella of the British Film Institute...
. Son of Rambow was released in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
on 4 April 2008 and opened in limited release
Limited release
Limited release is a term in the American motion picture industry for a motion picture that is playing in a select few theaters across the country ....
in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
on 2 May 2008. Set during an English summer during the early 1980s, the film is a coming of age
Coming of age
Coming of age is a young person's transition from childhood to adulthood. The age at which this transition takes place varies in society, as does the nature of the transition. It can be a simple legal convention or can be part of a ritual, as practiced by many societies...
story about two schoolboys.
Plot
Will (Bill MilnerBill Milner
William Henry "Bill" Milner is an English child actor, best known for his roles as Will Proudfoot in Son of Rambow, Edward in Is Anybody There? and the young Magneto in X-Men: First Class.-Life and career:...
) is quiet and shy, and comes from a family that belongs to the strict Plymouth Brethren
Plymouth Brethren
The Plymouth Brethren is a conservative, Evangelical Christian movement, whose history can be traced to Dublin, Ireland, in the late 1820s. Although the group is notable for not taking any official "church name" to itself, and not having an official clergy or liturgy, the title "The Brethren," is...
religious sect
Sect
A sect is a group with distinctive religious, political or philosophical beliefs. Although in past it was mostly used to refer to religious groups, it has since expanded and in modern culture can refer to any organization that breaks away from a larger one to follow a different set of rules and...
. Will is forbidden to watch films or television and is made to leave his classroom when the teacher puts on a documentary. In the corridor, he meets Lee Carter (Will Poulter
Will Poulter
William Jack Poulter is an English actor, most notable for his roles as Lee Carter in Son of Rambow, and as Eustace Scrubb in The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader.-Career:...
), the worst-behaved boy in school, thrown out of another class for bad behavior. They accidentally break a fish bowl in the corridor; Lee volunteers to take the blame, pretending that the punishment is torture, in exchange for Will's watch, which belonged to his dead father. Moreover Lee demands that Will performs the stunt
Stunt
A stunt is an unusual and difficult physical feat, or any act requiring a special skill, performed for artistic purposes in TV, theatre, or cinema...
s in a film Lee is making with his bullying older brother, Lawrence's (Ed Westwick
Ed Westwick
Edward Jack P. "Ed" Westwick is an English actor and musician, best known for his role as Chuck Bass in the main cast on the American television series Gossip Girl.-Early life and career:...
), home video
Home video
Home video is a blanket term used for pre-recorded media that is either sold or rented/hired for home cinema entertainment. The term originates from the VHS/Betamax era but has carried over into current optical disc formats like DVD and Blu-ray Disc and, to a lesser extent, into methods of digital...
equipment, which he uses in his video pirating enterprise. He intends to enter the Screen Test
Screen Test
Screen Test was a UK children's quiz show about films, broadcast from 18 November 1970 to 20 December 1984 on BBC1. It was first hosted by Michael Rodd, who was succeeded by Brian Trueman and Mark Curry.-Background:...
Young Film-Makers' Competition.
Will accepts; after seeing the film First Blood
First Blood
First Blood is a 1982 action thriller film directed by Ted Kotcheff. The film stars Sylvester Stallone as John Rambo, a troubled and misunderstood Vietnam War veteran, with Sheriff Will Teasle as his nemesis and Colonel Samuel Trautman as his former commander and only ally...
, he becomes very enthusiastic, and plays several dangerous action scenes. The two become best friends, but Will has to keep it secret from his family.
French exchange students arrive, of whom the suave Didier Revol (Jules Sitruk
Jules Sitruk
Jules Sitruk is a French actor, most widely known for his roles in the 2002 Jugnot film Monsieur Batignole and the 2008 Hammer & Tongs film Son of Rambow....
) becomes very popular. He asks Will if he and his acolytes can play in the film, and Will agrees. Lee does not like this, as he is no longer in control, and finally quits after a fight with Will during filming of the last sequence, which takes place at a disused power station. After Will becomes trapped when part of the unstable structure collapses, Lee returns to ostensibly rescue his friend, but has actually come to collect his brother's camera. He too gets hurt, and has to go to hospital. Lawrence visits him, but is angry about the fact that the camera is broken.
Will's mother (Jessica Hynes), from whom he has struggled to hide his activities, finally realises that her son must be allowed to be himself and her family leaves the Brethren. When Lawrence looks at Lee's footage he is impressed. With Will's help, he adds a part in which he acts himself — including a message for his brother. When Lee leaves hospital, as a surprise he is brought to a cinema, where his film is shown before the main feature and the two boys reunite.
Cast
- Bill MilnerBill MilnerWilliam Henry "Bill" Milner is an English child actor, best known for his roles as Will Proudfoot in Son of Rambow, Edward in Is Anybody There? and the young Magneto in X-Men: First Class.-Life and career:...
as Will Proudfoot - Will PoulterWill PoulterWilliam Jack Poulter is an English actor, most notable for his roles as Lee Carter in Son of Rambow, and as Eustace Scrubb in The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader.-Career:...
as Lee Carter - Neil DudgeonNeil DudgeonNeil Dudgeon is a British actor best known for his many television appearances, most often in crime drama.-Early Life:Dudgeon was born 1 January 1961 in Doncaster, Yorkshire, and attended Danum Grammar School among others. He established himself as an actor in school plays and went on to study...
as Brother Joshua - Adam GodleyAdam GodleyAdam Godley is an English actor.-Biography:Adam Godley has appeared in numerous movies including Love Actually, Elizabeth: The Golden Age and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory ....
as Brethren Leader - Jessica Hynes as Mary Proudfoot
- Anna WingAnna WingAnna Eva Lydia Catherine Wing, MBE is an English actress. She has had a long career in television and theatre.-Personal life:...
as Grandma - Charlie Thrift as Duncan Miller
- Zofia Brooks as Tina
- Tallulah Evans as Jess Proudfoot
- Jules SitrukJules SitrukJules Sitruk is a French actor, most widely known for his roles in the 2002 Jugnot film Monsieur Batignole and the 2008 Hammer & Tongs film Son of Rambow....
as Didier Revol - Ed WestwickEd WestwickEdward Jack P. "Ed" Westwick is an English actor and musician, best known for his role as Chuck Bass in the main cast on the American television series Gossip Girl.-Early life and career:...
as Lawrence Carter - Eric SykesEric SykesEric Sykes, CBE is an English radio, television and film writer, actor and director whose performing career has spanned more than 50 years. He frequently wrote for and/or performed with many other leading comedy performers and writers of the period, including Tony Hancock, Spike Milligan, Peter...
as Frank (old man playing Rambo) - Asa ButterfieldAsa ButterfieldAsa Maxwell Thornton F. Butterfield is an English actor, best known for starring in the Holocaust film The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas , as Norman in the 2010 film Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang, and playing the title role in Martin Scorsese's 2011 fantasy Hugo.-Life and career:Butterfield was born...
as Brethren Bo - Imogen Aboud as Young Mary
- Adam BuxtonAdam BuxtonAdam Offord Buxton is an English comedian and actor. With Joe Cornish, he forms one half of the duo Adam and Joe. The pair presented Adam and Joe on BBC 6 Music, whilst Buxton also presents his own show on 6 Music on Sundays, called Adam Buxton's Big Mix Tape, currently on hiatus.-Major work:His...
as Chemistry teacher - Paul RitterPaul Ritter (actor)Paul Ritter is a British stage and screen actor.His selected filmography includes roles in Quantum of Solace, Son of Rambow, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Nowhere Boy, The Eagle and the 2007 television serial Instinct....
as Geography teacher - Edgar WrightEdgar WrightEdgar Howard Wright is an English film and television director and writer. He is most famous for his work with Simon Pegg and Nick Frost on the films Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, the TV series Spaced, and for directing the film Scott Pilgrim vs...
as Metal school Teacher
Conception
Son of Rambow is a project that Garth Jennings and Nick GoldsmithNick Goldsmith
Nicholas Goldsmith , is a British film, TV and music video producer.Goldsmith is one half of Hammer & Tongs, a production company. The other half, Garth Jennings, is normally credited as writer and director for their work...
— collectively known as Hammer & Tongs
Hammer & Tongs
Hammer & Tongs is the pseudonym of promo and film director Garth Jennings and producer Nick Goldsmith, as well as the name of their production company...
— worked on for some years. Its development was interrupted when they were asked to make The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (film)
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is a 2005 comic science fiction film based on the book of the same name by Douglas Adams. Shooting was completed in August 2004 and the movie was released on April 28, 2005 in Europe, Australia and New Zealand, and on the following day in Canada and the United...
, and it is their second major feature film. It was inspired by Jennings' own experiences as a child in the 1980s, when video equipment first became available to the public, and the film recreates the atmosphere of an English comprehensive school
Comprehensive school
A comprehensive school is a state school that does not select its intake on the basis of academic achievement or aptitude. This is in contrast to the selective school system, where admission is restricted on the basis of a selection criteria. The term is commonly used in relation to the United...
of the time, using a soundtrack of both familiar and lesser known pop tracks from the era.
Pre-production and filming
The film was shot primarily in the English town of BerkhamstedBerkhamsted
-Climate:Berkhamsted experiences an oceanic climate similar to almost all of the United Kingdom.-Castle:...
, and the nearby Ashridge Estate owned and managed by the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty
National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty
The National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, usually known as the National Trust, is a conservation organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland...
Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England. The county town is Hertford.The county is one of the Home Counties and lies inland, bordered by Greater London , Buckinghamshire , Bedfordshire , Cambridgeshire and...
: featuring Ashlyns School
Ashlyns School
Ashlyns School is a school for pupils aged 13–18 in Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire, England. Unlike many other areas in the UK, schools in the Berkhamsted area operate a three-tier system of lower, middle and upper schools , in contrast to the traditional Primary School and Secondary School...
and The Rex, a recently refurbished listed Art Deco
Art Deco
Art deco , or deco, is an eclectic artistic and design style that began in Paris in the 1920s and flourished internationally throughout the 1930s, into the World War II era. The style influenced all areas of design, including architecture and interior design, industrial design, fashion and...
cinema which had been left derelict between 1989 and 2004. The two roads where both boys live are approximately 1200 metres apart, being located next to Berkhamsted Castle
Berkhamsted Castle
Berkhamsted Castle is a ruined Norman motte-and-bailey castle at Berkhamsted in Hertfordshire, England.The original fortification dates from Saxon times. Work on the Norman structure was started in 1066 by William the Conqueror who later passed the castle to his half-brother, Robert, Count of...
. They are the two most exclusive residential roads in the town.
The film includes a vintage clip of Jan Pinkava
Jan Pinkava
Dr. Jan Jaroslav Pinkava, Ph.D. is the director and writer of the Pixar Oscar-winning 1997 short film Geri's Game and the originator and co-director of Pixar's Oscar-winning 2007 film Ratatouille....
winning the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
Screen Test
Screen Test
Screen Test was a UK children's quiz show about films, broadcast from 18 November 1970 to 20 December 1984 on BBC1. It was first hosted by Michael Rodd, who was succeeded by Brian Trueman and Mark Curry.-Background:...
competition. The minor role of Danny, an acolyte of Didier, a glamorous French exchange student
Student exchange program
A student exchange program generally could be defined as a program where students from secondary school or university choose to study abroad in partner institutions...
, is played by Stanley Kubrick's grandson, Sam Kubrick-Finney.
Critical reception
Son of Rambow received generally favourable reviews from critics. As of 4 December 2010, the review aggregator Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
reported that 74% of critics gave the film positive reviews, based on 114 reviews. Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
reported the film had an average score of 66 out of 100, based on 29 reviews.
The film appeared on several critics' top ten lists of the best films of 2008. Both Kimberly Jones of The Austin Chronicle and Ty Burr
Ty Burr
Ty Burr has been a film critic for the Boston Globe since 2002 where he reviews films alongside Wesley Morris.Born in 1957, he studied film at Dartmouth College and New York University and has written three books: The Hundred Greatest Movies of All Time, The Hundred Greatest Stars of All Time and...
of The Boston Globe
The Boston Globe
The Boston Globe is an American daily newspaper based in Boston, Massachusetts. The Boston Globe has been owned by The New York Times Company since 1993...
named it their eighth best, and Marc Savlov of The Austin Chronicle named it his ninth.
Home media release
Son of Rambow was released on DVDDVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
and Blu-ray disc
Blu-ray Disc
Blu-ray Disc is an optical disc storage medium designed to supersede the DVD format. The plastic disc is 120 mm in diameter and 1.2 mm thick, the same size as DVDs and CDs. Blu-ray Discs contain 25 GB per layer, with dual layer discs being the norm for feature-length video discs...
in the United Kingdom on 11 August 2008, and on DVD in the United States on 26 August 2008.
External links
- Son of Rambow entry in the 2007 Sundance Film Festival2007 Sundance Film FestivalThe 2007 Sundance Film Festival ran from January 18 until January 28, 2007 in Park City, Utah with screenings in Salt Lake City, Utah and Ogden, Utah. It was the 23-rd iteration of the Sundance Film Festival...
film guide
Reviews
- Review from ITV LocalITVITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
Anglia film reviewFilm criticismFilm criticism is the analysis and evaluation of films, individually and collectively. In general, this can be divided into journalistic criticism that appears regularly in newspapers, and other popular, mass-media outlets and academic criticism by film scholars that is informed by film theory and...
show All Angles - Review at Twitchfilm
- Review from Times OnlineThe TimesThe Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...