This is yet another bizarre little British film. I like the originality of Son of Rambow, I like it that the film promotes children getting out of the confines of their houses and having adventures in the world, and I like it that it promotes good friendships and, to a degree, forgiveness. However, what I didn't like was its unnecessary and over-the-top use of swearing, and worse still its repeated employment of crass blasphemous phrases - by children also. I also didn't like its only depiction of elderly people as being a comical one, and I also have reservations about the scene in which Will and Lee exchange blood to become 'blood brothers'; though admittedly the way the wounds turn out make it less appealing than its use in the film 'My Girl'.

However, the most-interesting talking point for readers of Soul Food Cinema will be the film's inclusion of the sub-plot of Will belonging to a puritanical religious community. I can understand why Garth Jennings used this as a device to give legitimacy to Will being deprived of creative outlets, but I can't help but think that it would've been better had Will be painted as being too poor to own a television, or as a child with parents who fought and argued too much and thus he retreated away from them into his own little world. The result of having the religious community as the source of Will's feelings of isolation is that once again in one of the few times in which faith is presented on screen (and in one of the few times children from non-faith backgrounds will be told about religion) it is presented in an odd-ball manner; as the preserve of a few quirky, and even puritanical, individuals. Worse still in the case of this film aimed at young boys, the only male religious character (Brother Joshua) is a decidedly unkind man.

When I say 'again' above, I'm thinking in particular of the film 'Millions' - which was another British children's/youth film that contained too much swearing and presented faith in a quirky light. The thing is, in these films, although religion is not derided (in fact in Son of Rambow Will thanks God at the end of watching his film - albeit in a fairly low-key way), what they do do is keep religion bracketed at the margins of society. I think a lot of Christian commentators are glad to hear any mention of faith at all in a film, and that is good; we should never leave God out of the picture. But at the same time there's also a naivety as to how commendable these films really are. Society isn't in need a mention of God here and a mention of God there: society is in need of a full-blown proclamation of God in all His Wondrous and Majestic Being. Children need to be introduced to Jesus Christ, and they need to know and feel that they are able to have a personal relationship with him. Children need to be taught that many of our morals in society are based upon a Judeo-Christian heritage. And importantly, children also need to know that to practise a faith is normal, and, particularly in the case of Son of Rambow, they need to know that it can also be fun.

All of this leaves me feeling a little lost. I can only but conclude that the Holy Spirit does want us to talk about faith and Jesus in films and that wants us to make movies that speak to youngsters in particular. But the lack of cooperation on our behalf as committed Christians means that the resulting representation of faith is manifesting itself in some strange ways. Let us pray for Christian and non-Chrisitan film-makers alike that Jesus gets a fair and honest depiction on our cinema screens, and that young minds in particular are made aware of His existence.