Colin Bannon filmed “Boy’s War,” about a lad escaping an Indian raid on his home during the French and Indian War, when he was 14 years old. Granted, it’s a scant 10 minutes long and could certainly use a little more judicious editing, but…did I mention he was 14? My memories of that age involve productive activities like playing a lot of Atari and listening to Journey’s “Escape.” I guess we all have to follow our dreams.
The unnamed boy (Dave Radloff, Bannon’s cousin) flees from the attack and ends up in the middle of a battle. He hooks up with one of the American soldiers and later finds another, more unlikely ally.
Apparently Bannon and Radloff got wind of a battle reenactment taking place in Ticonderoga, so they traveled up there and shot around it, even going so far as to get one of the participants to play a role. The film itself suffers from a spare plot that borders on nonexistent, but creative camera work and the sheer chutzpah involved in making a bare-bones short film look like he actually had a cast and a budget make this a pretty impressive effort. Radloff has a decent handle on playing a scared kid, and Bannon puts this through quite well.
