A work of art, not a "child's erotic movie" - you missed the point.

Rating: 9/10 (13 September 2013)

I saw this movie last night, not really enjoying Wes Craven's previous movies, but enjoyed it so much I thought it would get really positive reviews (it had very positive reviews on our Oz film review program on public television). Instead there are a plethora of negative reviews saying how forgettable it was, how pretentious Wes Craven is, and suggesting kiddie porn! This was a beautiful, innocent idyll of 12 year- old children and their perceptions of the adult world. More than that, if cinema is an amalgam of screenplay, acting, visual composition, music and magic, then this succeeded brilliantly. It felt more like a European movie than American, with strong elements of surrealism, beautifully existential questioning of adult mores as seen by 12-year-olds, and the superb use of colour and composition. The music, especially the music of one of the greatest 20th century British composers Benjamin Britten, was superb and very clever. I think it is amazing that US culture can nitpick over joyfully innocent young sex, while supporting the kiddie porn of young girls in 'beauty quests', not to mention a society that accepts guns when young children are being blown away by gun-toting maniacs. Can you see what the rest of the world sees as an amazing hypocrisy? I will highly recommend this surreal, innocent, creative, intelligent, and beautifully crafted movie to the rest of the world as an example of the best of US counter-culture.