Foreign indie film god Film Movement continues its April mission of showing that this fare is not just for adults with the April 10, 2018 DVD release of the 2017 drama "Jasper Jones." This addition to the Movement catalog comes a week after the (reviewed) release of the U.K. DVD of a video recording of a live performance of the children's tale "The Railway Children." Our subject for today further proves that American filmmakers cannot keep up with the foreign Joneses.
The titular adolescent outcast lives alone on the fringes of society in a small community on the fringes of Australian society in this coming-of-age story that is set in 1969. The boy who experiences that growth is 14-year-old Charlie Bucktin. His only friend is an excitable Asian boy named Jeffrey Lu. That heritage sadly has significance in this Vietnam era.
On top of this, Charlie's mother Ruth (Toni Collette doing her usual excellent job) and father Wes are constantly at odds. Ruth is the tough parent who wants to ensure that her son stays safe, and Wes is a writer who wants his offspring to enjoy life. Many mothers can relate to this dynamic creating a situation in which Ruth feels that Wes constantly undermines her and that she is raising two boys.
The worlds of Jasper and Charlie collide when the former appears at the bedroom window of the latter. The motivation for this nocturnal visit is Jasper discovering the body of somewhat rebellious teen girl Laura Wishart. The family connections of this dead teen include her father Pete being a community leader and her younger sister Eliza being an object of affection for Charlie.
Concern that his low status in the community will result in deeming him guilty for the death prompts Jasper to recruit presumably sympathetic Charlie to help him discover the truth. One sign of the times is that the prime suspect of these hardy boys is Viet Nam vet Mad Jack Lionel (Hugo Weaving). The backstory of this individual includes the belief that he still acts on the bloodlust that his military service allegedly triggers.
This mission that Charlie must accept creates intense pressure as he maintains a facade of normalcy while the town panics regarding only knowing that Laura is missing. This period also is a time of increasingly strong bonding with Eliza. Another aspect of this is Ruth becoming anxious regarding the perceived threat of stranger danger.
Meanwhile, Jasper requires that Charlie plays dangerous games for boys at a time that the sense of "It's 10 o'clock, do you know where your children are?" intensifies as more time passes without Laura showing up either dead or alive.
"Jasper" does not have a dull moment and greatly intensifies in trauma and drama in roughly the final 30 minutes. Charlie discovers a very upsetting truth about his mother, Eliza reveals that she is less blissfully ignorant than she alleges, the sickening circumstances of the death of Laura come to light, and Jasper learns the degree to which things are relative. Additionally, the audience gets a sense of the '60s philosophy that you cannot trust anyone over 30. A related message is that you sometimes have to send in a child to do the job of an adult.
The primary aspect that makes "Jasper" Movement worthy is that it reflects the related universal truths that every unhappy family is unhappy in its own special way, and no one knows what goes on even in the homes of the "best" families. Beyond that, it is beautifully shot film that screams for a Blu-ray release.
The bonus features consist of director and cast interviews.
The apt Bonus Short film that Movement includes with every Film of the Month Club is "Death for a Unicorn" This highly creative Tilda Swinton narrated movie tells the tale of little Billy meeting the ghost of a girl named Myrtle (who does not moan) in the wake of falling out of a tree. This friendship provides the boy a nice respite from the tyrannical rule of his aunt and provides him reason to be grateful that the fall does not injury him more seriously.
Anyone with questions or comments regarding "Jasper" is strongly encouraged either to email me or to connect on Twitter via @tvdvdguy.
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