New Boy

Introduction –

Based on a short story by Roddy Doyle, New boy was one of 2007 Oscar nominees in the Best Live Action Short Film category. The film revolves around Joseph, a nine year old lad who’s just migrated from his home country in Africa to Ireland and his experiences on his first day at school.

Synopsis –

After a not so cordial introduction, Joseph is asked to sit right in front of a known bully, Christian. As soon as he eases on the bench, Christian starts with his shenanigan ways, prompting him with derogatory names such as ‘Live Aid’ and also asking Joseph with an equally disparaging remark ‘do they know it’s Christmas’.

Meanwhile, Joseph keeps his cool in spite of the class teacher reprimanding them to maintain silence. A little later Christian pokes his finger at Joseph with a fly stuck on it. Joseph instantly reacts. He holds Christian’s finger and in one quick motion turns it sideways. Christian falls on the floor crying in pain. Once again the teacher intervenes and the matter is resolved. Joseph spends the rest of the time before recess recollecting his days in his home country and his earlier school where his father was a teacher.

Between these mild adversities and challenging encounters, Joseph also finds support in the form of bespectacled girl student, Hazel.

During recess, Christian picks up the fight once again. Joseph adopts the same trick. There is a stalemate even as the class teacher walks up to them and swears. Joseph, Christian and Seth are asked to stand outside, as punishment. It is while standing in the hallway that the three boys begin to develop camaraderie through series of mocking gestures, targeted at the class teacher for her comic ways. The film ends on this light note. Joseph realizes that he’s now made new friends and it turns him happy.

Analysis –

While the story lacks depth, it is suitably compensated with controlled but intense expressions. The lack of dialogs highlights these emotions further. The four child actors ( Joseph, Christian, Seth and Hazel ) do well in their respective roles while the teacher does her bit with her voice modulation and cuss words. Direction is simple, yet eloquent while the editing is seamless … offering the viewers a wholesome experience.

Year of Release – 2007 | Director – Steph Green | Story – Roddy Doyle | Running Time – 11 Minutes | Availability – YouTube – Magnolia Pictures