iCM Forum's Favorite Coming of Age Movies; Nominations

[Lonewolf2003]

iCM Forum's Favorite Coming of Age Movies
Nominations


We all have to grow up some time, writers and directors also did at one point. Following the basic writing lesson of sticking to what you know, it is a stable theme to explore in movies (and other media).

Coming of age film portrays the time of life when the protagonist(s) grows up, focusing on how he or she matures emotionally. Depicting the psychological and moral growth during the transition of a protagonist from youth to adulthood. Among others themes of self-discovery, sexual awakening and responsibilities vs. the loss of childhood dreams and naivete often play a big role. Protagonists are most often adolescents, although they can also be (slightly) younger or older. Often set in the past during the filmmakers own formative years, these movies are frequently infused with nostalgia.
(more info: https://www.allmovie.com/subgenre/coming-of-age-d959, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coming-of-age_story)

I'm not going to set strict eligibility rules, since I have neither the means nor knowledge to verify all nominated movies. But I will remove clearly ineligible titles; if you nominate Haneke's Amour you better be prepared to explain your reason . If you are unsure if a movie is eligible, don't feel afraid to ask.

DEADLINE =30 APRIL 2021

Rules:

• IMDb- or iCM-lists are accepted. (If you can't make one of those, ask another user to help you out.)
• Lists can be any length.
• Shorts, mini-series and TV-episodes from anthology series where the episodes are unrelated, are allowed. Tv-series aren't allowed.*
  *A mini-series is 16 episodes or less, not multiple seasons, and not planned to be longer but canceled, and is intended as a single unified work and not episodic.
• Each nominee can only be named once (of course)
• Lists can be ranked or unranked or partially-ranked. In a partially-ranked list, the top X films are ranked and everything after that point is unranked. When not specified I will consider a list as ranked.

Half-life = TBD

Participant = x

Please check if your list is stated, ordered and linked correctly. And is set to public. For iCM lists you can also set it to "Friends" and befriend me. Don't edit your post, but make a new post or at least notify me of the edit in a new post.

[TraverseTown]

https://www.icheckmovies.com/lists/trav ... versetown/ ranked

[Carmel1379]

My list: https://www.imdb.com/list/ls088251125/

A ranked, public, certified non-trolling list, subject to change. Sincerely, Carmel

Spoiler

(although I would like to point out the amazing coming-of-age franchise masterpiece Harry Potter did have a troll in its Book 1, "The Philosopher's Stone".

'A Series of Unfortunate Events', on the other hand, had none. No magic or foolish drugs in that book cereal.

PewDiePie - Coco (Music Video) 4K

Spoiler

Thanks fu

[Teproc]

https://www.icheckmovies.com/lists/icm+ ... ge/teproc/

[Mifune]

I like the ambivalence of this topic. Decided to exclude genrefilms like Leon, Come and See, Ivan's Childhood, Pan's Labyrinth oder Let the Right One In for more consistency, but included Never Let Me Go.

My ranked list: https://www.icheckmovies.com/lists/icm+ ... uechtiger/

[Perception de Ambiguity]

https://www.imdb.com/list/ls088259807/
1-27: ranked
28+ : unranked

[Onderhond]

This was pretty tricky. Tried to make sure characters weren't too young/old, with the dominant genre tilting more to drama (not romance) and focused on the growing pains characters are dealing with. Also tried to avoid other genres with coming of age themes in the background.

Managed a top 30, mostly because Japan has some good teen flicks.

https://www.icheckmovies.com/lists/best ... onderhond/ (RANKED)

[Torgo]

https://www.icheckmovies.com/lists/best ... onderhond/ (RANKED)

Spotted the American one!

My list: https://www.imdb.com/list/ls088251125/

A ranked, public, certified non-trolling list, subject to change. Sincerely, Carmel

Thanks for the troll-free list. Many of my favorites there when it comes to this topic (Mysterious Skin!!, Eighth Grade, Fish Tank, Lady Bird ..).

Haven't thought about this much yet, hard to assemble a selection without a Loneferg-sponsored masterlist , but if there's only one thing certain about movies from the 2010s and 2000s, it's that they finally got teenage & adolescence right.

[Onderhond]

Spotted the American one!

Sorry to disappoint, but no US film present. One UK one though (which caused the confusion I think)

[jvv]

https://www.imdb.com/list/ls088277263/ (UNRANKED)

[Carmel1379]

My list: https://www.imdb.com/list/ls088251125/

A ranked, public, certified non-trolling list, subject to change. Sincerely, Carmel

Thanks for the troll-free list. Many of my favorites there when it comes to this topic (Mysterious Skin!!, Eighth Grade, Fish Tank, Lady Bird ..).

Haven't thought about this much yet, hard to assemble a selection without a Loneferg-sponsored masterlist , but if there's only one thing certain about movies from the 2010s and 2000s, it's that they finally got teenage & adolescence right.

Shiver me timbers! Master Torgo! I'm honoured, and humbly at your service.

Don't Do It Cartman!

I'm warning you!

If it pleases thy heart I could augment my "trolling" prowess and include the eight Harry Potter movies in my personal list, but -- I swear by the Wes Andersonian (or is it Andersonesque?) Gods -- some irrational obsessive-compulsive reason forces me to keep a cardinality upper bound of eleven-squared titles, so including those would mean I'd have to also include films such as 'Under the Silver Lake', 'Moonlight', and 'Star Wars', consequently expanding my list to at least -- to use a Polish phrase for "a lot" -- "tysiącpięçsetstodziewięćset", and I'm sure no one would want to see that.

For what it's worth, I would like to once again apologise to the entire forum for my lack of manners & detestable behaviour these past few months. To defer any sort personal responsibility for my past horrid actions (including, most likely, this post, that I will very much regret in the future and will be a source of deep anxiety for hours to come), I would like to take the easy route and merely say "That wasn't really me", a phrase justified through the framework of "psychosis" (see "psychotic break", "this boy snapped", "he went (no)mad", "she lost control", "a bout of losing your mind"), a subject I'm 101% sure Wikipedia, the free encyclopaedia, includes more true (and nothing but true) hyperlinked information about.

However, dear reader, you will be pleased to know I have decided to stop torturing other people with unintelligible boring prose, and merely torture myself with unintelligible boring prose, because -- that's left! -- I have made a new IMDb queendom (plenty of spoilers for the book cereal 'A Series of Unfortunate Events' everywhere on there, though), where I can dent, vent, and babble (in the mode of unintelligible boring prose) as much as I like. What's so torturous about it is of course the fact IMDb has a horrid list-making system, namely you can't shuffle / drag-&-drop titles like on Letterboxd or iCheckMovies or the olden IMDb days, so my sad, unintelligible, and boring linguistic-cum-numerological delusions are only intensified. ("cum" between two words is a latin-derived short-hand used by very serious distinguished academics, by the way.) (Come on man, why you do this to me, can I not read Don Quijote or study Knot Theory (which is of course NOT theory (that's probably a Top 10 joke about maths modules)) in a relatively relaxed manner? [Why am I thinking about Bo Burnham's autotune 'Make Happy' ending and how Kanye's crew stole ideas for their 'All of the Lights' music video from Gaspar Noé's 'Enter the Void' opening credits just now?] )

Drugs are bad, m'kay. TV is good, m'kay. Factory Farming is very, Very evil, m'kay.

For the record, I am growing more sane & healthy. The mid-March looney bin tricked admittance, wrecking havoc there, and "getting fired" from that place (that's literally how the Flemish called it) precisely one week ago, has permanently shed all my past delusions of grandeur, time-travel, alien planets, and whatnot. Ecce homo.

"A Series of Unfortunate Events is a series of thirteen children's novels written by American author Daniel Handler under the pen name Lemony Snicket. The books follow the turbulent lives of Violet, Klaus, and Sunny Baudelaire." - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Series_ ... ate_Events

Thank you for reading

I whole-heartedly agree (shout-out to A24, I guess ) , but part of me is very sad they didn't make any films in the 1760s for us to enjoy and learn from, I would be very curious to see that period's depiction of teenage and septuagenarian years. Oh wait, no need, we have 'Barry Lyndon' for that. But I'm confused again now -- could that cinematographic masterpiece also be considered a coming of age motion picture?

[Caracortada]

My list

There are some cases of doubt, but I focused on protagonists who are getting nearer to adulthood, go through psychological changes, and make decisions about their future. The origin of this genre must be the old Bildungsroman.

[Lakigigar]

Is Euphoria eligible?

And The End of the F**cking World?

[Lonewolf2003]

Is Euphoria eligible?

And The End of the F**cking World?

No, cause both are tv series. Since the second had and the first is planned to have a second season. Sorry.

[Carmel1379]

Is Euphoria eligible?

And The End of the F**cking World?

No, cause both are tv series. Since the second had and the first is planned to have a second season. Sorry.

What about the specials? (I haven't seen them.)

[Lonewolf2003]

Is Euphoria eligible?

And The End of the F**cking World?

No, cause both are tv series. Since the second had and the first is planned to have a second season. Sorry.

What about the specials? (I haven't seen them.)

I know too little about them to make a def call on them now. Maybe someone can tell me more, if needed.
But generally said if these specials are true stand alone specials that can be seen as a kind of TV movie/short it is allowed. If they are basically just extra episodes, they aren’t.

[Lakigigar]

I'm confused about including Midsommar, A Clockwork Orange, WolfWalkers, Song of the Sea, Manchester by the Sea, Whiplash, American Beauty, Captain Fantastic, Like Me, It Follows and a few more but decided not to include them (unless someone gives me a reason why they should). I think the list also is going to be more interesting with a slightly more "strict" definition of coming-of-age.

At the end, i was able to make this top 50. Perhaps i might see a few more movies this month, and they might end up in the list too but not really sure.

https://www.imdb.com/list/ls088221928/

Trying to see the following movies before the deadline! (although not sure if each of them qualifies for this list), but we will see.

April Story
All About Lily Chou Chou
Hana and Alice
Wolf Children
Picnic at Hanging Rock
Mysterious Skin
Gummo
Babyteeth
Mid90s
Waves
Princess Cyd
Flower
A Swedish Love Story
Ginger Snaps
Beach Rats
The Return
Take Care of my Cat

[Torgo]

Trying to see the following movies before the deadline! (although not sure if each of them qualifies for this list), but we will see.

April Story
All About Lily Chou Chou
Hana and Alice
Wolf Children
Picnic at Hanging Rock
Mysterious Skin
Gummo
Babyteeth
Mid90s
Waves
Princess Cyd
Flower
A Swedish Love Story
Ginger Snaps
Beach Rats
The Return
Take Care of my Cat

So of them you have to see, really.

[Torgo]

My list: https://www.imdb.com/list/ls088251125/

A ranked, public, certified non-trolling list, subject to change. Sincerely, Carmel

Thanks for the troll-free list. Many of my favorites there when it comes to this topic (Mysterious Skin!!, Eighth Grade, Fish Tank, Lady Bird ..).

Haven't thought about this much yet, hard to assemble a selection without a Loneferg-sponsored masterlist , but if there's only one thing certain about movies from the 2010s and 2000s, it's that they finally got teenage & adolescence right.

Shiver me timbers! Master Torgo! I'm honoured, and humbly at your service.

Don't Do It Cartman!

I'm warning you!

If it pleases thy heart I could augment my "trolling" prowess and include the eight Harry Potter movies in my personal list, but -- I swear by the Wes Andersonian (or is it Andersonesque?) Gods -- some irrational obsessive-compulsive reason forces me to keep a cardinality upper bound of eleven-squared titles, so including those would mean I'd have to also include films such as 'Under the Silver Lake', 'Moonlight', and 'Star Wars', consequently expanding my list to at least -- to use a Polish phrase for "a lot" -- "tysiącpięçsetstodziewięćset", and I'm sure no one would want to see that.

For what it's worth, I would like to once again apologise to the entire forum for my lack of manners & detestable behaviour these past few months. To defer any sort personal responsibility for my past horrid actions (including, most likely, this post, that I will very much regret in the future and will be a source of deep anxiety for hours to come), I would like to take the easy route and merely say "That wasn't really me", a phrase justified through the framework of "psychosis" (see "psychotic break", "this boy snapped", "he went (no)mad", "she lost control", "a bout of losing your mind"), a subject I'm 101% sure Wikipedia, the free encyclopaedia, includes more true (and nothing but true) hyperlinked information about.

However, dear reader, you will be pleased to know I have decided to stop torturing other people with unintelligible boring prose, and merely torture myself with unintelligible boring prose, because -- that's left! -- I have made a new IMDb queendom (plenty of spoilers for the book cereal 'A Series of Unfortunate Events' everywhere on there, though), where I can dent, vent, and babble (in the mode of unintelligible boring prose) as much as I like. What's so torturous about it is of course the fact IMDb has a horrid list-making system, namely you can't shuffle / drag-&-drop titles like on Letterboxd or iCheckMovies or the olden IMDb days, so my sad, unintelligible, and boring linguistic-cum-numerological delusions are only intensified. ("cum" between two words is a latin-derived short-hand used by very serious distinguished academics, by the way.) (Come on man, why you do this to me, can I not read Don Quijote or study Knot Theory (which is of course NOT theory (that's probably a Top 10 joke about maths modules)) in a relatively relaxed manner? [Why am I thinking about Bo Burnham's autotune 'Make Happy' ending and how Kanye's crew stole ideas for their 'All of the Lights' music video from Gaspar Noé's 'Enter the Void' opening credits just now?] )

Drugs are bad, m'kay. TV is good, m'kay. Factory Farming is very, Very evil, m'kay.

For the record, I am growing more sane & healthy. The mid-March looney bin tricked admittance, wrecking havoc there, and "getting fired" from that place (that's literally how the Flemish called it) precisely one week ago, has permanently shed all my past delusions of grandeur, time-travel, alien planets, and whatnot. Ecce homo.

"A Series of Unfortunate Events is a series of thirteen children's novels written by American author Daniel Handler under the pen name Lemony Snicket. The books follow the turbulent lives of Violet, Klaus, and Sunny Baudelaire." - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Series_ ... ate_Events

Thank you for reading

I whole-heartedly agree (shout-out to A24, I guess ) , but part of me is very sad they didn't make any films in the 1760s for us to enjoy and learn from, I would be very curious to see that period's depiction of teenage and septuagenarian years. Oh wait, no need, we have 'Barry Lyndon' for that. But I'm confused again now -- could that cinematographic masterpiece also be considered a coming of age motion picture?

Thanks for your post, Carmel! I'm sure many of the forumers, olde and new, are reading these threads meticulously. And we care. About things, conditions, the system, and, people. Just like you: humans, persons, posters, personalities .. and their lifes.
Feel free to share - and keep the great lists coming!

[zzzorf]

One of my favourite genres. I've been waiting for this poll. My list is ranked as per my Flickchart as usual.
https://www.icheckmovies.com/lists/my+f ... es/zzzorf/

[beasterne]

I couldn't figure out a great way to filter for entries in this list. I ended up just going through my favorites list to start, and then adding films from others' lists that were posted here. Some of these films aren't necessarily coming of age, per se, but if the story can be read as a metaphor for maturation or growing up I included some of those films as well.

Here's my top 40, ranked:

https://www.icheckmovies.com/lists/favo ... beasterne/

[beavis]

I'm not going to make a list for this. Both because I think I don't have a great affinity with the subject and feel like most people who say they do, are interested mostly in recent films with a teen protagonist, regardless if any growth is the main theme of the film... (just my perception)... but I do wanted to give a few shout-outs, so these might not get overlooked:

the granddaddy of the "genre" (maybe...): https://www.icheckmovies.com/movies/i+vitelloni/
influencing so much of what came next from https://www.icheckmovies.com/movies/los+chicos/ to https://www.icheckmovies.com/movies/fen ... ai+de+ren/
and I also really liked
https://www.icheckmovies.com/movies/do+ ... clamation/
https://www.icheckmovies.com/movies/ren ... e+juillet/

[mjf314]

Would anyone be willing to make an iCM list of all nominations so far? That would make it easier to participate, because the IMDb tag is probably missing a lot of movies.

[Gordon_Gekko]

Would anyone be willing to make an iCM list of all nominations so far? That would make it easier to participate, because the IMDb tag is probably missing a lot of movies.

I can do that.

In Progress:
https://www.icheckmovies.com/lists/icm+ ... don_gekko/

[Ivan0716]

https://www.icheckmovies.com/lists/tous ... /ivan0716/

[Lonewolf2003]

Would anyone be willing to make an iCM list of all nominations so far? That would make it easier to participate, because the IMDb tag is probably missing a lot of movies.

I can do that.

In Progress:
https://www.icheckmovies.com/lists/icm+ ... don_gekko/

Thanks

[mjf314]

@Gordon_Gekko: Thanks.

[mjf314]

https://www.imdb.com/list/ls088922590/

Ranked.

[peeptoad]

ranked

[Mysterious Dude]

https://www.imdb.com/list/ls088258639/ (all ranked)

This still needs some work, but I'd better post it now so I don't forget.

Question for anyone: Is it still a "coming of age" movie if the kid dies in the end? When we were voting for future polls, I assumed there wouldn't be much difference between "coming of age" movies and "movies with child protagonists," but as I was going through my favorites, I wondered, "did this kid really 'come of age' while he was being bludgeoned to death?"

[Lonewolf2003]

https://www.imdb.com/list/ls088258639/ (all ranked)

This still needs some work, but I'd better post it now so I don't forget.

Question for anyone: Is it still a "coming of age" movie if the kid dies in the end? When we were voting for future polls, I assumed there wouldn't be much difference between "coming of age" movies and "movies with child protagonists," but as I was going through my favorites, I wondered, "did this kid really 'come of age' while he was being bludgeoned to death?"

I don’t know if you have any specific movie in mind. But generally speaking, dying in the end doesn’t stop a character from having a character arc, so a kid can come of age and die in the end.

[3eyes]

Helter-skelter (unranked):

https://www.imdb.com/list/ls088872590/