Running with Sissors (2006)

In 1972, six-year-old Augusten (Joseph Cross) is trapped between his parents: his mother Deirdre Burroughs (Annette Bening), a poet with delusions of fame, and his father Norman (Alec Baldwin), an alcoholic math professor. When the Burroughs' marriage disintegrates, Deirdre begins therapy with the eccentric Dr. Finch (Brian Cox), an unconventional shrink. At age 12 Augusten moves in with the doctor’s family, and has irregular visits by his crazy mother. He befriends Neil Bookman (Joseph Fiennes), Dr. Finch's adopted 33-year-old son, and the two enter an erratic gay sexual relationship. The story is about the missing boundary between reality and fantasy, and the broken bond between a mother and her son.

Based on the book "Running with Scissors: A Memoir" by Augusten Burroughs, the film relies on music to express the emotions of the characters and to ground viewers in time. It brings the memoir to life with classic 1970s songs by Elton John, the Average White Band, and Nat King Cole. In an interview for the movie, Augusten Burroughs said he felt the movie was about a quest for family. James S. Levine composed the incidental music. Ryan Murphy wrote the screenplay and directed.

Voor een Verloren Soldaat (1993)

Set in the Netherlands near the end of WWII, the film is a flashback recalling an adolescent gay relationship between 12 year-old boy Jeroen Krabbé (Jeroen Bowman) and a Canadian soldier, Andrew Kelley (Walt Cook). Jeroen reminisces about the time in 1944 when he (Maarten Smit) and other children were sent to the countryside by their parents to escape the war. Amsterdam suffers from food shortages, with more food available in the country. He stays with an eel fisherman's family, but despite the abundance of food, he is plagued by homesickness. Things change when the village is liberated by Canadian troops. Jeroen meets Andrew Kelley, a Canadian soldier in his early twenties, who befriends him. Jeroen revels in the attention the soldier showers on him, and eventually their relationship becomes sexual. His foster parents are aware of the closeness between Jeroen and the soldier, but it is unclear in the film whether they are aware of the sexual nature of the relationship. After a few more days, Walt's troop are ordered to move and Walt leaves without saying goodbye to Jeroen. The boy is heartbroken, having only a photo to remind him of the soldier. After the war is over, he returns to his family back in Amsterdam, where he decides to go to America later in his life. The film ends by returning to the present with Jeroen attempting to incorporate his experiences in his latest ballet work.

It's another coming of age movie handled with tact, style, and feeling. Foster father Hait (Freark Smink) loves the boy selflessly, whereas Andrew's love is selfish, exploitive and his aim is seduction. Joop Stokkermans composed the incidental music. Don Bloch and Roeland Kerbosch wrote the screenplay derived from Rudi van Dantzig's novel. Roeland Kerbosch directed. In Dutch with some English, and with English subtitles. The English title is, "For a Lost Soldier".