WHEN WE WERE BOYS (Sarah Goodman, Canada). 81 minutes. Friday (May 1), 9 pm, Cumberland 3 May 10, 4 pm, Bloor. Rating: NNNN
When it comes to documentaries, access is vital. Sarah Goodman got exactly what she needed to make this absorbing film about life in an elite private boys’ school in Toronto.
Against a great soundtrack by Jim Guthrie, the guys fight for a place at the lunch table, trash the classroom while on detention and, in the context of their own privilege, create their own hierarchies.
This isn’t a boarding school, but Goodman is still able to show a strange intimacy among the boys. That helps create vivid characters: the bully, the jerk who doesn’t give a shit, the bad-boy best friend of school star Noah, who’s personally gifted but also harassed by his schoolmates because he’s way wealthier than even they are.
Fascinating.