I've noticed over the last few weeks that a surprisingly large amount of people i've spoken to had never even heard of The Boys.
It guess it was a more low key affair but i want to find out how people think the two movies compare. I personally liked The Boys more but i wanna hear what everyone else thinks.
I'd love to see both films then I'd be happy to answer your question. But unfortunately it's difficult to find The Boys on US-compatible DVD and Little Fish, despite its stellar cast and multiple AFI nominations, hasn't been scheduled for distribution here. From interviews and profiles I've read, Rowan Woods sounds like a gifted director, but foreign films tend to get short-changed in the US unless they fit easily into crowd-pleasing genres.
shareI've picked up The Boys in the video shop so many times (knowing that i really SHOULD get around to seeing it) but each time I read the synopsis and chicken out.
Maybe it's not as violent as I imagine??
The look and feel of the film is tense, but as for actual on-screen violence, there's less than your average Bruckheimer film. Watch it in the afternoon instead of just before bed. :)
shareI've actually met the director of these two films, Rowan Woods. I met him at a "Meet the Director" session at the ACMI at Federation Square in Melbourne, Australia. He's actually a very casual, nice, intelligent and down to earth guy. There were also two other directors there, Sarah Watt (Look Both Ways) and John Hillcoat (The Proposition). They talked about their films and also talked about their AFI nominations. It was actually very intersting. Rowan talked more about Little Fish than The Boys, but he was very articulate. I've seen both films and I prefer Little Fish. I persoanally think he directed it better and the acting was out of this world, especially that of Cate, Hugo and Noni.
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I'm a huge Cate Blanchett fan but I liked The Boys a bit more...David Wenham was superb in that.
These are very different films. I loved both. The Boys was very menacing - David Wenham was supberb. But also loved Little Fish - it was more upbeat, even though there was sadness
shareI only recently saw little fish and read a lot of peoples comments about the boys..and strangely enough The Boys was on foxtel the other night and i watched it...i liked both, i probably enjoyed little fish more
shareI think the violence of The Boys is more implied than actually shown, although there is one scene with Toni Collette that is very confronting.
I like elements of both movies, but overall I think The Boys is just slightly better there seems to be a sustained tension throughout the movie ( just as the controlling character Brett wants it to be), whereas Little Fish was a bit too cut around for some elements of the plot to be understandable.
As far as performances go, Cate, Hugo and David Wenham are all 10/10.
The Boys is better, though they each have their own strengths and weaknesses.
The Boys is much tighter and tenser, but it feels a little too theatrical and claustrophobic at times. I kept hoping they'd take a drive into the city, just to get us out of that ratty house and suburb for a little while.
Little Fish is a lot prettier and more emotionally direct, with a far stronger sense of place, though the narrative never truly kicks into gear and the resolution leaves much to be desired.
I liked them both. The Boys would be around 7.5/10, with Little Fish lagging behind by about a point.
It's a shame Rowan Woods didn't go on to bigger and better things after this. Judged on these two films, he seems like a fairly talented filmmaker. Sadly, it appears his Hollywood debut was so bad that it completely ruined his cinema career, both here and overseas. Now he's stuck directing Australian TV movies and episodes of obscure shows.