This Boy is a wonderful short by Canadian writer/director Amy Burt. Leah Ostry makes her debut in movies as Kit, a teen girl in 1960s Nova Scotia, in love with the Beatles and school mate Holly (Leah Fassett). Kit leads an alternative life, which she keeps secret from her parents, as a boy, with a mop-top haircut and Beatle suit, and performs along to records equipped with a tennis racket guitar and egg whisk microphone. Probably because she is an unusual child, Kit hangs around with another outsider, bad kid Mike (Neil Matheson). Mike gets Kit into serious trouble and risks her burgeoning relationship with Holly. Although Kit will be up for a fall, love comes through to make it all worthwhile.
Amy Burt, a first time director, made This Boy with an inexperienced cast. This results in some weak supporting acting. Leah Ostry, however, shines in the lead role, showing a talent and screen presence that should make her famous one day. This is Burt's only film to date, which is surprising because, based on the quality of this short, she should have received many more opportunities to make movies. She will in the future, hopefully.
This Boy was originally released in 2002. Fortunately, it has been saved from short-film oblivion by inclusion on She Likes Girls (2007), a collection of Sapphic shorts that is easily available – I first got it from Netflix. The rest of the films are relatively weak, but the DVD is worth tracking down for This Boy.
Finally, I should mention the great soundtrack, especially the two Beatlesque songs by Mike O'Neill (previously of the Inbreds).
Amy Burt, a first time director, made This Boy with an inexperienced cast. This results in some weak supporting acting. Leah Ostry, however, shines in the lead role, showing a talent and screen presence that should make her famous one day. This is Burt's only film to date, which is surprising because, based on the quality of this short, she should have received many more opportunities to make movies. She will in the future, hopefully.
This Boy was originally released in 2002. Fortunately, it has been saved from short-film oblivion by inclusion on She Likes Girls (2007), a collection of Sapphic shorts that is easily available – I first got it from Netflix. The rest of the films are relatively weak, but the DVD is worth tracking down for This Boy.
Finally, I should mention the great soundtrack, especially the two Beatlesque songs by Mike O'Neill (previously of the Inbreds).
