The Arbor
Dir: Clio Barnard
2010
*****
The Arbor is a real one off. Andrea Dunbar is a name synonymous with Bradford, 'The grim North', the song 'We're having a gang bang, we're having a ball' and heartfelt literature. I remember when she died, not so long after Rita, Sue and Bob too came out - the film itself was talk of the playground at school with many of us pretending we'd seen it so as not to sound uncool. It can be grim up North, it's pretty grim in places down South too but there was always something different about the Estates and the people living there written about by Dunbar. As popular as her work was/is, she was another victim of her environment - although this brilliant documentary shows that as well as being another cog, she wasn't without blame for the way she bought up her three children - her eldest suffering the most. This is a documentary and re-enactment all in one, with a few performances from her plays thrown in and it works brilliantly. Maybe it took a 'visual artist' instead of a normal film director to pull it off (although personally I'm not sure of the fundamental difference). Believe the hype, it is utterly spellbinding and something quite unique.

The Selfish Giant
Dir: Clio Barnard
2013
*****
I really liked Clio Barnard's 2010 The Arbor, a film about the life and work of Bradford's Andrea Dunbar. The Selfish Giant takes us back to Bradford but this time it's Oscar Wilde who is inspiration. It's not quite same Selfish Giant story I remember as a child and far less religious but I think that is the point. It all comes back to childhood, a very hard and very real childhood for some people. The big question is who or what is the Selfish Giant? The scrap dealer (Sean Gilder) who illegally hires children to do dangerous cheap labour is the obvious choice but then what about the education system, the school that lazily expels unruly children, social services, local council, Government, society in general, us. Maybe we're the Selfish Giant, we let this happen just as long as it isn't happening to us. This story of two young friends is what real cinema is about. Miss it at your own peril.