The term
coming-of-age is remarkably vague. Just what exactly does it mean? What can be included within the genre? Is it even a genre? Most coming-of-age movies see blossoming romances, heart-stopping adventures and plenty of riveting drama so perhaps its slightly inappropriate to class it as a genre. Its significance cannot be dismissed though coming-of-age films focus on teenagers and their (usually) painful transitions as they learn valuable life-lessons by sacrificing their innocence and so much more. Before the new millennium came around, there were a whole range of selections to admire, from
Kes to
E.T. and from
Rebel Without A Cause to
Stand By Me. Certain film-makers, notably John Hughes, were credited with really giving the sub-genre a place in film history and this is clearly evident in the quality of
coming-of-age movies seen since 2000. What exactly
makes a coming-of-age moviejust that? Ill throw some titles at you:
Transformers. Twilight. Theyre no
Stand By Me, but both focus on young people fighting for their lives, experiencing the pain of growing up in unique and different worlds. Its ascended the realm of genre and become more of a theme for movies to follow. Of course, no one is going to come home after watching one of those two films and tell their mates they just saw the best coming-of-age movie I ever did see. Many
many movies will consist of some element that closely resembles a coming-of-age trope, whether it be the harsh journey of a teen/child or the retelling of an adults story from a time where they were new to their respective world in one sense or another, but these 10 films truly represent more of the childs significant journey to another stage of life than anything else in the movie:
10. Almost Famous
Year of Release: 2001Director: Cameron Crowe This is hardly a movie about rock n roll, though the movies outer layers may try to convince you otherwise. No, this movie is about so much more; peel through the stiff exterior and what you find is an angst-ridden journey from child to man whilst lusting after that mythic desire to be heard, to be seen, to be respected within a society that only views you through rose-tinted glasses. More specifically, its a sort of semi-autobiographical re-telling of Crowes earlier years when he was a writer for renowned culture magazine,
Rolling Stone. In the movie, our protagonist, a 15-year-old kid, slightly dorky yet eager and committed, manages to pluck his dream job out of the air through a couple of chance meetings and some decent journalism. All roads lead him to a rising rock band, going by the name of
Stillwater. Though hes initially labelled as the enemy, he begins to befriend the band and
Rolling Stone hire him to write a piece on the group. His journey is all set; his love of pop-culture and glam-rock is about to culminate in one of the most touching and humorous movies of the 21st century. On his journey, he experiences love, loss, hope, regret, fear and failure; it may have happened to him in a shorter time period than most boys his age but it's all part of the journey. He hardly knows what he wants or feels. He feels an attraction to the slightly older Penny Lane (Kate Hudson) and who can blame him, but as he realises she only has eyes for one other, it becomes less about the music and more about the people behind the instruments. For that reason, I can't give Cameron Crowe enough credit for the story he's created. It's a wonderful world full of questions and very little answers but, that's life.