‘A Boy Called Sailboat’ is a story about enchantment. Sailboat (Julian Atocani Sánchez) is an 8 -year old Hispanic lad, so named because, despite living 1000 miles from the sea, somewhere near the Mexican border, he has an over-riding passion for sailing boats, which he draws incessantly and pins up on his wall. In the ramshackle and severely lopsided shack that doubles as their home, his father José (Noel Gugliemi) is similarly obsessed with horses, dreaming of being a cowboy and owning a horse. Despite his share of the wooden wall being similarly covered in meticulously coloured-in number paintings of mustangs of all kinds, his real concern is maintaining the pole that keeps the wonky house upright and is in constant danger of being devoured by termites. The house never ceases to creak ominously.
Meanwhile mother, Meyo,(Elizabeth De Razzo) who refuses to leave the house since the postman called her fat, spends her day making large tasty meatballs with loads of chilli, which appear to be the only thing the family eats!
All the characters in this tale are individuals who are idiosyncratic and quirky, even eccentric. Each one wrapped up in their own particular obsession. There is the tough Mr Bing, (Jake Busey, The Predator & Stranger Things) Sailboat’s teacher, who sports a curly wig and the used- car salesman, Ernest (J.K. Simmons, Whiplash, La La Land, in fine form) who sets up in the middle of nowhere with his bunting and little painted wooden shed as an office, picking up ‘bargains’ when he can find them. To Sailboat’s delight, one such bargain is a sailing boat that he stares at in awe, while Ernest rehearses his sales pitch to wry comments from Sailboat. Ernest describes the value of an ‘acquisition’, as something you simply ‘must’ have. Sailboat soon discovers his own personal ‘acquisition’, a lovely ukulele abandoned with a pile of junk by the side of the road.
From this moment on, Sailboat and his ukulele are inseparable although he does not know how to play it , yet… so when he is taken to visit his beloved grandmother ‘Abuela’ in hospital and she says “Write me a song on your little guitar”, he is determined to compose her the best song in the world. Sailboat loves the ‘quiet’ of his wild plains but, he concludes, there are “different ways of quiet” and he comes to believe that once Abuela has heard his song, the original quiet will return. “If you do something for someone, it can be for everyone.”
His music-loving school friend Mandy (a delightful Zeyah Pearson) who wanders about in her massive headphones listening to her CD player, generously loans him the equipment so he can listen to his audio music course and learn to play the instrument Despite all the difficulties, the self-taught Sailboat finally announces that has composed “Abuela’s “ song.
Zeyah Pearson as Mandy
The boy’s special song enchants the listeners, mesmerizing them, touching people’s dreams and opening their hearts. Bewitched, they are transformed, opening up to themselves, becoming so overwhelmed with joy, they weep with emotion.
We never hear this song, all we hear is a single suspended note that takes us into a moment of stillness as we see people’s reactions to the sounds we cannot hear, a song that connects people with themselves and finally brings the all- important rain to the area.
Written and directed by the Australian Cameron Nugent, he set this story in the flat drought-ridden flat lands of New Mexico. An other-worldly feel also comes from the intense colour palette, which is vivid and atmospheric, with the gold, ochre and sienna of the dried grasses and the massive expanse of blue sky echoing José’s aged blue car, that has already lost its two back doors.
The narrative is always taken from the point-of-view of the boy, with its corresponding innocence. Initially, he is seen as the Hispanic ‘outsider, from ‘south of the border’, and virtually ignored. He is bullied and he observes the eccentricity of the characters and their obsessions but, being a child, these individual characters are not judged or questioned but wholly accepted as they are. His best friend Peeti, (Keanu Wilson) is unable to blink and as his parents cannot afford an operation, he has to moisten his eyes with drops every few minutes, despite that, he cannot stop kicking his beloved football about as if were an extension of his own body.
Only when the rains finally come, can he can run in the rain and play without a hitch.
Keanu Wilson as Peeti
Although there are some big names in the production, the magic lies with the child actors, Sailboat (Julián Atocani Sánchez), his football-fanatic best friend Peeti, (Keani Wilson) who cannot blink and Mandy (Zeyah Pearson), who loves her music.
Despite going close to being sentimental, Nugent carefully steers it away from being shmaltzy or coy, the details and the observation of the characters are convincing and real. This is a neatly crafted production and a smart opening debut film for this director. Playing with magic realism and fairy tale, we are drawn into the story as the boy’s special song weaves its way around all those who hear it. We watch as their lives are revealed, layer upon layer, with their obsessions and insecurities being opened up by this gentle and humble little lad, who sings and takes them into a trance, re-awakening their hearts and dreams.
Meanwhile, the film sound track is a pot-pourri of numbers like ‘The House of the Rising sun’, ‘La Bamba’, ‘My Bonnie’ even ‘Row, Row, Row your Boat’, beautifully arranged and played on guitar by Leonard and Slava Grigoryan.
Through all the trials and tribulations, Sailboat finally plays the ‘song’ to his ‘Abuela’, unable to know if she can hear him or not. There is a sadness in this heart-warming tale. Sailboat has brought joy to all, but has he brought any to himself?
The film has won the Boston Film Festival’s festival Prize, the Newport Beach Film Festival’s Audience Award and the Prescott Film Festival’s Director’s Choice Award.
A Boy Called Sailboat (2018) will be available for Digital Download from May 6th 2019- Platforms include: iTunes, Amazon, Google, Microsoft, Skystore and Sony.
Written and Directed by Cameron Nugent
Producers Richard Gray, Cameron Nugent, Nelson Khoury
Music Leonard and Slava Grigoryan
DOP John Garrett
Editor Cameron Nugent
Cast:
Sailboat Julián Atocani Sánchez
José Noel Gugliemi
Meyo Elizabeth De Razzo
Peeti Keanu Wilson
Ernest J K Simmons as the second hand car salesman
Mandy Zeyah Pearson
