The Witness [Not rated, but isn't for children] [young child]
Overall movie: *****
EJW content: No words, but entirely nuanced acting including micro-expressions - at age 8! "Co-stars" with Gary Sinese.
Note added June 2006: I've watched The Witness a few more times since I wrote the original comments 5 years ago. The result is that I've added another star and have changed my "EJW content" statement. In order to appreciate the film itself, and Elijah's acting in particular, it has to be seen more than once.
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I debated adding this film to the list, because it's a short (about 15 minutes long), but the more I watch it the more I think it deserves some notice. Gary Sinese is the main character ("Young Soldier"). Elijah's ("Little Boy") is second, even though he doesn't say a word--but, then, there aren't more than a dozen words spoken in the entire piece. Sinese plays a W.W.II German soldier in a concentration camp and Elijah is an inmate there who... watches... him. Your first thought might be, "Seen that before," but IMHO Sinese's acting, especially, is more complex than it seems at first glance and is well worth studying. Elijah does get to act here, too, in a very understated way. I'd say in this film the real stars are the people behind the camera, who've taken what could have been a trite story and turned it into a striking study of a man (Sinese) being attacked by his own conscience.
There's no industry rating, but in my opinion it could be quite disturbing to children. There's very brief, story-necessary nudity. Most of all, the entire film has a--completely appropriate--air of chillingly underplayed violence. Not an easy piece to watch, but it's not meant to be.
It's available on VCD from yesasia.com on a collection of shorts called Perverse Destiny 3.
Not available at amazon.com
[Note added June 2006: yesasia.com has the VCD listed as out-of-stock. I've signed up to be notified by email if it becomes available again, and will post any notice here and on the "What's New" page.]
