Wild Tigers I Have Known (2006)

Director:

Cam Archer

Writer:

Cam Archer (writer)

Release Date:

25 May 2007 (UK)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

A lyrical telling of the coming of age of a 13-year-old boy who learns to cope with his newfound sexuality and his unrequited love for the cool kid in school.

Plot Keywords:

Shower Scene | Teenage Love | Bathroom Scene | Teenage Boy | Phone Sex

Awards:

1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

Malcolm Stumpf	...	Logan
Patrick White	...	Rodeo
Max Paradise	...	Joey
Fairuza Balk	...	Logan's Mom
Kim Dickens	...	The Counselor
Tom Gilroy	...	The Principal
Ruth Elliott	...	Leah (voice)
Joey Coffman
Tim Greer
Dash Mann
Derek Mitchler
Kylee Lehe	...	Excited woman / Teacher
Teresa Morales
James Porter
Bernadette Wilson	...	Teacher

Runtime:

USA:98 min (Sundance Film Festival) | USA:88 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White | Color

Certification:

USA:Not Rated

Filming Locations:

Santa Cruz, California, USA

Company:

Cut and Paste Films

Quotes:

Logan: Do you think about breaking things? We could break things. Hearts? Don't break my heart...

Soundtrack:

Ghoulish

I don't think it accomplishes what it means to

After watching this movie on DVD, I watched the trailer. The voice-over describes the movie as surreal. Well, there's surreal, and there's surreal.

There was really only one part of the film that seemed surreal to me, but frankly, it was more confusing than surreal. The other unusual imagery, particularly the lunchroom scene where everybody is on the floor, were so nonsensical they had no meaning. I don't mind imagery that doesn't mean anything, but these scenes just seemed irrelevant.

My impression is that the director was trying to convey Logan's inner monologue. I don't know what else would explain what was going on. Unfortunately, nothing I saw gave me any clue what Logan was thinking about, what his perspective was, or even his emotional state. All I could tell was that he wasn't particularly happy with his physical appearance, and that he had a crush on an older boy.

I thought the ending signaled what the relationship between the boys had become, but not much else did. Purposely juxtaposing ambiguous scenes with those that were more straightforward seemed more like a cop out than an artistic decision.

Still, as tiresome and as content-free the movie was for me, it was a definite change of pace. I very much liked Madagascar Skin, and I had the feeling this movie aspired to that kind of narrative, and perhaps even style. It didn't even come close. For me there's no question about it: this movie deserves an A for effort, but a D for execution.