The Hard Life

THE SELFISH GIANT (A-minus) - This gut-wrenching drama follows a pair of delinquent 13-year-old boys trying to survive a hardscrabble existence in the shadows of nuclear reactors and awful adults in a tough British town.

In a solid year for child actors, Connor Chapman, as the perpetually angry Arbor, turns in a compelling lead performance that carries the entire film. Arbor, taking his cues from the miserable, abusive men he is surrounded by, is a Category 3 hurricane of a child, spewing vitriol at everyone in his path, including his own poor downtrodden mother. He takes guff from no one (policemen included), and he's a wonderfully foul-mouthed little git.

Arbor lures his frumpy pal Swifty (Shaun Thomas) into a school suspension, which provides the opportunity to make money salvaging scrap to sell at a local yard run by a lunk by the name of Kitten, who lends out his horse and cart to the boys. The boys show no fear in stealing valuable cable and plenty of ingenuity in figuring out ways to bring their haul in safely. Swifty is somewhat of a horse-whisperer, who lavishes love on the horse and dreams of one day piloting the beast in a sulky street race.

Director Clio Barnard (known previously for her documentary "The Arbor") creates a frightening world of danger and despair. She creates terror in a wild street race in which the horses and carts are trailed menacingly by cars driven by the town maniacs.

Doom hangs over every scene, and you squirm in your seat waiting for the inevitable tragedy to unfold. When it happens, it's truly shocking and disturbing. The film is bookended by scenes of one of the boys cowering beneath a bed, hiding from the world, soothed only by the outstretched hand of the other. It's a powerful symbol. It's you-and-me-against-the-world and a defiant roar into the roiling world they were unlucky enough to be born into and most likely will never escape from.

CAESAR MUST DIE (B) - This is a fascinating little documentary (76 minutes) observing hard-core Italian prisoners as they prepare to stage a production of Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar."

Longtime filmmakers Paola and Vittorio Taviani shoot mostly in lush black-and-white digital images that seem to capture the spirits as well as the expressive faces of the hardened criminals, including mobsters and murderers.  The star of the production is Salvatore, who plays Brutus with a frightening intensity. Physically he brings to mind the menacing bookie Manfro on "Men of a Certain Age" (Jon Manfrellotti). Others emerge as fascinating character studies with impressive acting skills; one, Juan Dario, has leading-man looks and expressive eyes.

We run through the entire production process, starting with auditions, which provide the best scene in the film. As rehearsals progress and the men start to master the material, their identities take shape; the men both meld with their classic characters and diverge from these lionized Roman ancestors. The men bond with each other and antagonize each other. The proceedings free them, temporarily, from their cells, but in the end, that is where they will be headed.

PARADISE: FAITH (B) - This is perhaps the most brutal of the three films in Ulrich Seidl's trilogy (also including the first one, "Love," and the more recent "Hope"). Anna Maria, a middle-aged Austrian woman, has regained her faith in God, and she goes all-in, flagellating her bare torso daily and lugging statues of the Virgin Mary from door-to-door hoping to convert her lower-class neighbor sinners.

One day, her husband returns, and her faith is tested anew. He's a traditional Muslim, paralyzed from an accident and abusive to her (though he's loving with the friend's cat she's taking care of). She won't sleep with him, which enrages him. Meantime, she has an almost romantic reverence for her many crucifixes featuring her Lord and Savior. When she stumbles on a graphic orgy in the park one evening, she must go straight home and shower.

Folks invite her into their homes, and a couple of the prayer sessions turn contentious, especially the visit with a drunk Russian woman. Some are entertaining, like the speedo-clad hoarder who can't bring himself to sleep in the bed his mom died in.

This is tough to watch. Many long takes are achingly real, especially the arguments. How will Anna Maria handle God's great challenges? You might crack before she ever does.