The Foster Boy (2011) User Reviews

Hard days in those times.

[deloudelouvain · 7/10 · 29 April 2018]

I know a bit of German but at one point I was wondering what language it was until I discovered it was Swiss German that is a little bit different. Probably the first movie I saw in this language and it's certainly not a bad one. It's a drama, not my favorite genre, but a interesting to watch drama, with good actors and a good, sometimes hard to watch story. Hard to watch, not as in bloody, but as in mental abuse and corporal punishment towards kids. Seeing those scenes make you realize kids from now are just so spoiled compared to certain kids in that time. Because even if it is a movie, life was that hard in most of the families in that time. The acting is excellent, with actors I never heared of. The filming and the story were much better than I expected it to be. A good drama in a foreign language.

Good film about a sinister family in Switzerland

[Horst_In_Translation · 6/10 · 18 March 2015]

"Der Verdingbub" is (apart from what I wrote in the title) also about a boy who comes to a farm in order to help with the work. Later on, a younger girl also arrives there. The two get abused and a young teacher tries to help them. The director is Markus Imboden, one of Switzerland's finest filmmakers these days. I recommend his "Mörder auf Amrum", one of the finest television films in recent years. He becomes 60 this year. The writing duo is not particularly experienced in comparison to Imboden, but did a very good job here with the script. This movie here won Swiss Film Awards for actor and supporting actor (and was nominated for best film), but you could probably say that the whole cast was excellent. It's not a watch for the easily offended though: There are several scenes of bullying, rape, violence against animals humans and emotional violence as well.

Even if I was not too wowed by the ending on the ship, it wasn't bad either (huge negative event happens and slightly positive ending afterward, but never feels forced, just realistic) and the film's second half is certainly better than the first. The film needed a bit to get rolling for me. Quick mention to Katja Riemann, who you have probably never seen that ugly in a film and her character is a complete mystery too. There were one or two moments where I wondered if she turns to the good side and against her husband and son. One would be after the teacher (played by the stunning and talented Miriam Stein) tells her to help the children. This 105-minute (without closing credits) film is easily one of the best Swiss films in recent years, even if it did not get the Foreign Oscar submission honor. Recommended.

Realistic

[narenjbm · 7/10 · 1 August 2021]

Good movie about children's heart. The movie plays emotions of 15 year old boy & girl.

The collective story of those affected by the Swiss foster system.

[dimitri-burkhard · 8 August 2013]

There is no doubt that the story of a foster boy with no rights of his own could have been turned into a heart wrenching drama. However, despite the gravity of the subject manner, director Markus Imboden successfully infused some elements of entertainment which help viewers deal with the helpless situation of Max.

Many potentially controversial subjects were touched only at the surface, such as the role of the church or the involvement of the Swiss government in the foster system.

Thanks to the beautiful tunes of the accordion, a sort of acoustic happy end was made possible.

Disturbing

[MrDeWinter · 10/10 · 7 October 2021]

Not an easy watch. Great execution. Didn't quite understand why the main character did not just leave earlier.

What is dis????

[Bigshot84269 · 1/10 · 15 February 2022]

I was in school watching this. It was the most confusing movie i have ever seen. There was no build up to any plot. It made no sense there was so many ways that max could have beating the old aggressive man. The dude was passt out in the hay so drunk he probably could become retarded beyond retarded, max could have beat him up as revenge for the wrong doings the man did to him, but it was nothing. Best part of the movie was tho a class m8 said as joke 'vo basel mit de schiff' and it perfectly synchronized with max in the movie. Could not stop laughing for 6 min.