STAND BY ME – MEMORY OF A SUMMER
Type: metaphorical-adolescent journey
Direction: Rob Reiner. With Wil Wheaton, River Phoenix, Corey Feldman, Jerry O’Connell, Kiefer Sutherland, Casey Siemaszko, Gary Riley, John Cusak
During the summer holidays of 1959, four twelve-year-old friends decide to find out if the body of a boy found outside the city is that of a missing friend of theirs. It is the initial inspiration for a film that moved and entertained forty years ago and which, having returned to illuminate a summer season not exactly full of masterpieces, could be an opportunity for many to discover a great film (and a cinema that, alas, is no longer made).
Based on a story by Stephen King (The body) but with more than one significant variation, it is the story of an initiatory and metaphorical journey to discover one’s fears, sexuality, adulthood, responsibility and finally death.
The protagonists of “Stand by Me”: on the right, River Phoenix. (© Photo12 / Contrast)
A kind of nostalgic and moral fairy tale that it tells of a crucial moment in life such as that of the transition age but which manages to avoid any stereotype playing skillfully between reality and fantasy, capable of intelligently adopting the point of view and psychology of the characters.
With some moments of necessary crudeness (“the assault” of the leeches) but also more playful and childish glimpses, such as the cake-eating contest which ends with imaginable consequences.
For those looking for fun and intelligence.
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