LITTLE BOY

US, 2015, 96 minutes, Colour.
Jakob Salvati, Emily Watson, Michael Rapaport, David Henrie Tom Wilkinson, Cary- Hirojuki Tagawa, Ted Levine, Ben Chaplin, Eduardo Verastegui.
Directed by Alejandro Monteverde.


Little boy is a nickname for the central character in this family-oriented film, a film of values with touches of religion. It is set in the town of O’ Hare in California in the first half of the 1940s, the time of the US involvement in World War II, post-Pearl Harbor, the hostility towards Japanese rounded up and interned. Little Boy is also the nickname for one of the atomic bombs that was dropped on Hiroshima in order to end the war.

This is very traditional filmmaking, the kind of filmmaking that was very popular in past decades, pleasing and accessible filmmaking, which critics and many in younger generations dismiss as “uninventive”. Be that as it may, this is a film which will appeal to audiences who are looking for a warm and interesting story, sympathetic characters, an acknowledgement of conflict, who want some kind of hope, even prayer and miracles. Since the popularity of The Passion of the Christ in the United States in 2004, American companies have been far more confident in making films geared to the middle American audience, offering films of faith. While some of them may seem too American and their style of sentiment for audiences outside the US, this one will probably have more general appeal.

Audiences in 2007 were charmed by small-budget film with Hispanic characters, Bella. This film is from the same director, Aleyandro Monteverde. He brings the same sentiment to this film, a touch of the fanciful, a touch of the romantic, more than a touch of the hopeful.

It is well served by the young Jakob Salvati playing the eight-year-old boy in the town of O’ Hare, Pepper. Salvati is one of those screen presences who is often described as cute and appealing. And he is, able to sustain the whole drama. He is very short, Little Boy, bullied by the big kids in the town. But, he has a very close relationship with his father, shared imagination storytelling, delighting in the comic books of Black Eagle, especially enjoying a live performance at the local cinema when Black Eagle comes to town and Pepper is invited on stage and invited to will the movement of a bottle.

He does, and this leads to a religious theme, the quotation from the gospel about having faith the size of a mustard seed and being able to move mountains. There are two priests in the parish and the parish priest, Father Oliver (a sympathetic Tom Wilkinson) reflects on faith and prayer with Pepper, giving him a list of good things to do, Gospel-based, visiting the sick, feeding hungry, clothing the naked (and his being involved in a knitting bee for those without clothes). It is a pity that there is not more explicit explanation of where these injunctions come from, from the Gospel of St Matthew, but they are general enough to appeal to any person of good faith who is not necessarily Christian.

Not sharing this faith is an elderly Japanese man, Mr Hashimoto, released from internment, returning to O’ Hare but the subject of disdain, enmity and, often, violence. The parish priest adds visiting Mr Hashimoto to Peppers list, not something easy because Pepper has been involved with his angry older brother and pelting the Japanese man’s house with stones. But, gradually, they form a bond.

There are flashes to the involvement of Pepper’s father in battles in the Philippines, and his being a prisoner of war, with the Japanese guards shooting at the Americans at the time of the dropping of the bomb, Little Boy, on Hiroshima, something which Pepper sees on the newsreels and dreams about, wandering about the ruins of the city.

While Jacob Salvati is very effective as Pepper, Emily Watson brings her warmth to the role of the mother and comedian Kevin James has a small role as the local doctor. Michael Rapaport is the father and Ben Chaplin is Black Eagle.

Of course, there is a great deal of sentiment in the film, but, unfortunately, this often gives rise to a certain cynical response to such human warmth, which is a pity.

A pleasing, traditional, pleasant and sometimes challenging re-visiting of California during World War II.

1. The target audience for this film? Traditional audiences? The family? Audiences for values, religious themes?

2. The tone, filming? The 1940s, the small town, homes, the sea, the garage, shops, the church, hospital? The cinema and the titles on the awning? Audiences identifying with characters and situations? The musical score?

3. The title, the local paper? The phone for the atomic bomb? The spread, yet the limits of destruction?

4. The adult voiceover, remembering, admiration for? The folksy tone?

5. The style of filmmaking, traditional, policeman, available to a wide audience, the religious dimension?

6. Pepper, his birth, small, measuring his height? The doctor and the possibility of his dwarfism? His nickname? Freddy and the boys in the town, the bullying, the fights, the chases? His older brother, London? His mother, her care? London, signing up, his flat feet, rejection? The father going in his stead, leaving, Pepper and his tears, holding on to his father’s leg?

7. The bond between father and son, the stories, the adventures of Black Eagle, imagining them, the pirates, the cliffhanger…? The comic books? the saying that everything was possible?

8. Pepper and his life after his father went to war, helping, Teacup and his work, London and his anger, getting the money, buying the boots, and chased by the bullies? Wearing the boots? Keeping them until his father’s return?

9. The end, kids’ cruelty, the taunts, the fights?

10. The doctor, kindness, the bullying son, his dead wife, the visits to Pepper’s mother, the attraction, the visit for dinner?

11. Black Eagle, the cinema, the glimpse from the serial, live action, on stage, invitation to Pepper on stage, to move the bottle, everybody laughing, his efforts, the movement, reactions?

12. Fr Crispin, his sermon, faith and the mustard seed, going to confession, the penance, the nun helping, saying the Hail Mary’s in Latin? Fr Oliver, the discussions about prayer, faith, with the actual mustard seed? Trying to move the bottle, Fr Oliver moving it, because Pepper wanted it to be moved? Giving him the list, good deeds – no explicit explanation of the injunctions from the gospel?

13. The Japanese, the hostility in California, the newsreels, footage and Pepper’s father’s action in the Philippines? The Japanese interns released because of their loyalty? Mr Hashimoto, his place in the town, his house, as a person, 42 years in America, his home, the photos? The hostility from London and from Pepper, throwing the stones, the discussions with Fr Oliver, and adding visits to Mr Hashimoto to the list?

14. The encounters with Mr Hashimoto, the apology, leaving the soda and Mr Hashimoto putting it in the bin, hanging out, the ice cream, the store refusing to serve the Japanese, sitting outside with the ice cream, Pepper being rescued from the bullying boys, the bond between the two, talking, the list and getting advice for the different elements of the list? Mr Hashimoto and his talking with Pepper the Samurai stories being visualised – and Pepper putting them into action in hitting Freddy? The reaction of the kids?

15. Discussions about prayer, Mr Hashimoto and Fr Olivers friend up there, the importance of belief in self? Pointing out Japan in the direction of the sunset?

16. Pepper, fulfilling the items on the list, visiting the wounded man in hospital with Mr Hashimoto, Teacup as homeless, care for the sick, going to prison to see his brother, knitting the clothes with the women…?

17. Pepper, his decision to move the mountain, his face, his yelling out, the earthquake, the newspaper headings, people’s reactions? Fr Oliver’s explanation?

18. The flashbacks to Pepper’s father, the Japanese, prisoner of war labour, wounded, the soldier stealing his boots, with the tags, shot, the wrong identification?

19. The bombing of Hiroshima, the newsreel footage, Pepper and his dream, walking among the rubble, the burned people, discovering the bomby had the same name Little Boy?

20. The invitation to Mr Hashimoto for dinner, his mother’s welcome, London and his reaction, his going to the house with the angry man whose son had been killed, the brutality of the bashing, London going to help him, Mr Hashimoto in hospital, London in prison, the doctor helping for his release? Pepper’s mother not responding to the doctor?

21. The news of the death, the sadness, the memorial service, Mr Hashimoto recovering, present?

22. The news of the father’s survival, joy, the prayer and miracles? The father’s return, at the hospital, the happy reunion?