SPLICED Issue 04\r\nPop culture\r\nLifestyle\r\nMovies\r\nGames\r\nComics\r\n\r\nComing of Age\r\n\r\nBy Isaac Kosmides\r\n\r\nAdolescence. That unavoidable angst-ridden precipice between childhood and adulthood. You wake up one morning and the world is landmined with sex and insecurity and curiosity and disillusionment all of which are secretly documented in reams of truly terrible existentialist poetry.\r\nNo one seems to understand you, your body is in a state of angry revolution, and all that you’ve been raised to believe as a child is dragged out into the cold harsh light of day and beaten with hormonal intensity. All of a sudden it’s your responsibility to find your own place in the world, to grapple with the notions of ideology, sexuality and rebellion and the unbridled joy in being able to be reckless in both (this is how we learn to know better). Where questionable ideas seem tantamount to genius. Your sheltered world is blown apart by an unquenchable thirst for exploration and self-destructive behaviour. It’s magical. And terrifying. And we’ve all done it; some have even survived relatively unscathed and gone on to make movies about it. These are some of the best…\r\n\r\nAvril (2006)\r\n\r\nAvril (Sophie Quinton) is almost a nun. Having spent her life in the Baptistine convent (an order dissolved in the late 19th Century) with whom she was entrusted as a baby, she needs to undergo a mandatory spiritual quarantine before taking her vows. Whilst locked away, she’s tipped off to the fact that she is in fact one of twins, and still has, out there somewhere, a brother. A novice, both in the convent and in the ways of the world past its walls, she embarks on a mission to find him with the help of the charming painter whom she effectively manages to pick up along the way. The movie is understated and charming and very French in that it manages to stay true to the characters over what could have been a sensationalistic plotline in the hands of anyone other than director Gerald Hustache-Mathieu. \r\n\r\nKids (1995)\r\n\r\nNo movie list on this theme would be complete without listing Kids, the controversial quasi-documentary zeitgeist film that woke up a generation of parents to the realities of teens living in a time where sex and drugs are not only immediately available, but readily utilized from an unnervingly early age. The film was slated for release because of its gratuitous content, which the makers defended as realistic. Truth is, it still reads just as relevantly now, the only notable difference being the visible absence of cellphones. Director Larry Clark was determined to portray his subjects authentically, largely casting the leads on chance meetings; Chloe Sevigny met writer Harmony Korine at a party, while Leo Fitzpatrick was recruited while Clark watched him swearing when not being able to land a skating trick. \r\n\r\nRunning With Scissors (2006)\r\n\r\nBased on the best-selling memoir of the same name (adapted for the screen and directed by Ryan Murphy,) Running With Scissors documents the years in which a teen Augusten Burroughs was abandoned by his unhinged mother (played by Annette Bening who was nominated for her portrayal) into the care of her hack psychiatrist and his unbridled tribe. What makes the story so disturbingly entertaining is that it’s based on fact; even if the family did sue for libel when the book was first published.\r\n\r\nStealing Beauty (1996)\r\n\r\nBernardo Berollucci’s Stealing Beauty is overall one of the most beautiful movies made on the subject. Virginal Lucy (Liv Tyler at her best) flies to Tuscany to spend the summer at a picturesque artist’s villa to have her portrait sculpted in the hopes of unravelling the mystery of her poet mother’s life and death. Well, that, and to rekindle the fling she had with one of the local Italian boys. She instantly finds herself the curiosity of the meddling artists and old summer-holiday family friends that live there. The film effectively launched both Liv Tyler and Rachel Weiss, playing against the real-life husband and wife Jeremy Irons and Sinead Cusack. And the soundtrack is awesome; compiling Billie Holiday, Nina Simone, Stevie Wonder, Portishead and the Cocteau Twins.\r\n\r\nThe Virgin Suicides (1999)\r\n\r\nBased on the Jeffrey Eugenides novel, The Virgin Suicides marked the directorial debut and resultant vindication of Sofia Coppola as an artist in filmmaking (her biggest feat is single-handedly making Kirsten Dunst appear to be a good actress). The story is narrated as the neighbourhood boys’ hypothesis on the events leading up to the collective suicide of the enigmatic Lisbon sisters. Set in the suburban mid-70’s, the boys try in vain to untangle the mysterious lives of the sisters, effectively under house arrest on the instruction of their overprotective parents (James Woods and Kathleen Turner) after the youngest attempts, then succeeds, in killing herself by impaling herself on a fence. The most intriguing is Lux (Kirsten Dunst), the most visibly rebellious of the five, and her salacious relationship with high-school heartthrob Tripp (Josh Hartnett). The movie is beautifully constructed, from text through execution, mostly due to the achingly understated (and meticulously stylized) way in which Coppolla manages to portray complex female characters on film. \r\n\r\nThe Way Way Back (2013)\r\n\r\nIntroverted Duncan is dragged on vacation to spend the summer in a beach cottage with his mother (Toni Collette) and her dickhead boyfriend (an astoundingly convincing Steve Carrell). Surrounded by adult supervision that need supervision themselves, he discovers the local waterpark Water Wizz (read Wild Waters) and secretly takes a job there under the wayward guidance of man-child owner Owen (the ever-awesome Sam Rockwell). Here, he finds camaraderie in the band of misfits that run the park, and a place to call his own. It’s a classic coming-of-age formula, made infinitely more charming by the great casting.\r\n\r\nWonderboys (2000)\r\n\r\nWonderboys is testimony to the fact that no-one ever really grows up without a fight. Based on the Michael Chabon novel, the adolescent in question is 50-something Professor Tripp (Michael Douglas). The once-brilliant writer is perpetually stoned, unable to finish his now-mammoth follow-up opus, at the tail-end of another broken marriage and unable to commit to the Chancellor (Frances McDormand) with whom he’s been having an indefinite affair. This all comes to a head over the university’s annual WordFest. Flanked by his hedonistic editor (Robert Downey Jr) and morbidly disturbed but brilliant creative writing student (Tobey Maguire) the unlikely posse muddle their way through the week trying to keep it all together just long enough to figure out what to do with the dead dog in his trunk. Brilliantly scripted, and with (in my opinion) career-best performances by Douglas and Downey Jr, Wonderboys is an ode to the indefinite process of ‘growing up.’ \r\n