Horst in Translation (filmreviews@web.de)
"The Boy with a Camera for a Face" is a British English-language film from 2013, so this one will have its 5th anniversary next year. It is the only effort and director and producer by prolific writer and actor Spencer Brown. The film runs for 14 minutes, but I see there is also a shorter version out there at under nine. So your choice which is the one to go for. I personally watched the longer one as it seems to be the original. I enjoyed the first half a lot and the second half was kinda okay. I think the film was at its funniest and best when it had some awkward humor scenes like the filming during sex with the teenage girl or also very early the father implying the mother could have had an affair because there were no camera heads in his family tree. Yeah that's right he has a camera for the head, not for the face, so the title is not 100% correct, but we don't want to be too picky here. It still summarizes the contents accurately. The best thing about the film is certainly longtime successful actor Steven Berkoff's narration which felt like the heart and soul to the story. Great job from him, certainly elevates the material. The sociocritic aspect towards the end is not really working that well, but has a touch of poor man's Truman show to it sadly. That's also why I cannot give this film more than 6 stars out of 10 because the second half is simply not as good. But it is also not bad enough to be a negative deal breaker. I suggest you check out TBwaCfaF. I give it a thumbs-up.
