Analysis of New Boy by Steph Green & Roddy Doyle PDF

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Analysis of New Boy by Steph Green & Roddy Doyle...

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Fi l m St udi es

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The film that I have analysed is ‘ New Boy’ , written and directed by Steph Green and based on the short story by Roddy Doyle. The first topic that I have chosen to discuss is narrative. The film is told from the perspective of Joseph, a nine-year-old African refugee who is starting afresh in an Irish primary school.

This objectivity is of great significance in the film as he is the only African boy in the class. Shown from his perspective, the film demonstrates the differences between education in his home country and Ireland through alternating between shots of Joseph’ s previous school (in which his father was his teacher) and his new school in Ireland. The varying relationships between teacher and student in both countries are presented to us through Joseph’ s poignant point of view.

While the short story originally is told through the internal monologue of the protagonist, the director chose not to use a voice-over. Seeing what Joseph is thinking while beginning in his new school allows the viewer to feel sympathy for him - to the other students, he is merely another new pupil, despite him having suffered greatly unbeknownst to them. His narrative allows us to gain insight into the type of hardship he had experienced.

Secondly, there are plenty of examples of distinctly cultural aspects present in the film. In less than twelve minutes, the film gives us an accurate and comedic insight into the daily tribulations of a stereotypical Irish primary school. The character of the teacher in the film brilliantly represents the typical Irish primary school teacher. We see that there is an air of strangeness about the new boy in the class; there is not necessarily any harsh racism shown, but yet a difference is acknowledged by the other children.

One child comments that he should sit beside the only other black student in the class. A prime example of a distinctly cultural aspect of the film is when one of the bolder students, Christian, taunts Joseph by calling him ‘ Live Aid’ and saying ‘ do they know it’ s Christmas’ . In popular culture, and for a child that age, the charity song ‘ Do They Know It’ s Christmas?’ is synonymous with starving black children as shown in the music video. Perhaps our culture has groomed Christian to believe that all black children are poverty-stricken.

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There is an abundance of cultural differences between Joseph’ s home country and Ireland. The children in the African school are enthusiastic, respectful towards their teacher and appreciative of receiving an education. In contrast, the pupils in the Irish school are brazen, disrespectful and bored. Finally, the editing of the film plays an important role in telling Joseph’ s story. This is quite effective as it allows the camera-work, acting and short dialogue tell the story. The director skilfully alternates between scenes set in both the Irish and African classrooms. In a flashback format, when something in school reminds Joseph of his home, an unnamed African country, we are shown a different scene that gives us a greater insight into his life before. The editing of the film shows that there is more to this playful classroom situation than meets the eye.

When Christian and the other students bully Joseph in the school yard, directly intertwined with this is a flashback scene of a very unhappy time in his life. In a short yet distressing scene, we see his father being taken away by some sort of militia and here, Joseph witnesses his father being shot. Although there is nothing explicit either visually or narratively, we learn here why Joseph is in his current situation. The editing of the film contributes to the overall tone of the piece. When Joseph steps into the Irish classroom, the setting appears dull and awash with the colour grey. The teacher instills fear in the students. Conversely, when he reminisces on the African classroom setting, it is a bright, bustling, happy place with the sun shining in the door.

The film has been critically acclaimed for its combination of skilful editing, an interesting but sparsely detailed narrative and the culturally contrasting settings, among other aspects such as the talented child actors, cinematography, lighting and sound....