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Birthday Boy (2004)

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Manuk, ‘the little soldier’

Original classification rating: PG. This clip chosen to be PG

Clip description

Manuk (voiced by Joshua Ahn), pretending to shoot a gun, exchanges a few battle cries with his absent father, and throws a rock at a man on a bicycle, who crashes. It is the postman, who nevertheless has delivered a parcel. Manuk walks home, unwraps the mysterious parcel and plays with its contents.

Curator’s notes

by Antoinette Starkiewicz

The boy’s identification with his soldier father is clearly shown; Manuk acts as if he were really on the battlefield with him. The strong father and son link is reinforced in this heartbreaking sequence in which Manuk – the innocent, uncomprehending child – examines the parcel’s tragic contents, makes them his own and continues to play at being a soldier.

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australianscreen is produced by the National Film and Sound Archive. By using the website you agree to comply with the terms and conditions described elsewhere on this site. The NFSA may amend the 'Conditions of Use’ from time to time without notice.

All materials on the site, including but not limited to text, video clips, audio clips, designs, logos, illustrations and still images, are protected by the Copyright Laws of Australia and international conventions.

When you access australianscreen you agree that:

  • You may retrieve materials for information only.
  • You may download materials for your personal use or for non-commercial educational purposes, but you must not publish them elsewhere or redistribute clips in any way.
  • You may embed the clip for non-commercial educational purposes including for use on a school intranet site or a school resource catalogue.
  • The National Film and Sound Archive’s permission must be sought to amend any information in the materials, unless otherwise stated in notices throughout the Site.

All other rights reserved.

ANY UNAUTHORISED USE OF MATERIAL ON THIS SITE MAY RESULT IN CIVIL AND CRIMINAL LIABILITY.

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