Arbor and Swifty are two teenage boys growing up in a poor and run down area of Bradford in West Yorkshire. Arbor suffers from hyperactivity disorder, which often gets him into trouble even when it is not his intention. When the boys are suspended from school after a fight, they decide to earn money collecting and selling scrap metal. They quickly realize that stealing copper from telecom, railway, and power utilities can be lucrative.
They sell their scrap to a local scrap dealer, Kitten, who owns at least two horses and competes in amateur harness racing. Kitten allows Swifty to work with the horse, once he realizes Swifty's surprising affection for and natural talent with horses. Kitten also lets the boys rent a horse and a cart to collect scrap metal.
Arbor is envious of Kitten's kindness toward Swifty. Arbor decides to steal pieces of scrap from Kitten and sell them, along with some other scrap, to a dealer in Huddersfield. The plan ends up backfiring; Arbor is refused entrance at the other dealer, and when he makes a deal with some men who offer to sell the scrap for him, they recognize it as stolen and keep the money. Kitten finds out and physically intimidates Arbor into stealing a specific piece of high voltage electric power transmission wire to make up for his loss. The boys are not fully aware of the dangers of high voltage wire. Arbor cuts the wire and Swifty helps to lift it, but is electrocuted and killed.
Arbor is devastated and Kitten is arrested, telling the police he is responsible and allowing Arbor to escape blame. Arbor sits resolutely outside Swifty's mother's house. After several rejections, his own mother finds him and takes him home. He refuses any contact by hiding under his bed, until Swifty’s mother finally comes to him.
In a final scene, Arbor takes care of the horse Swifty adored.
The Selfish Giant was produced by Tracy O'Riordan for Moonspun Films, and was developed with support from Film4 and the BFI.[4] Film4's Katherine Butler and the BFI's Lizzie Francke served as executive producers.[5]
Principal photography wrapped in October 2012, after six weeks of filming in Bradford, West Yorkshire.[4] The film cost £1.4 million to make, with £3,000 used to create a real hole on contaminated ground.[2]
In a 2013 interview, Clio Barnard said about her second feature film:
I don't want the film to have explicit political content, but it is there. It's essentially a film about love, deep friendship and loyalty between the two boys, but it is played out in an adult world where something has gone fundamentally wrong, and children are often at the cutting edge of that. […] With The Selfish Giant, hopefully you see what gets lost when that ideology of greed is adopted wholesale.[6]
Release
The Selfish Giant premiered in the Directors' Fortnight section of the 66th Cannes Film Festival on 16 May 2013.[5] In the same month, Artificial Eye acquired UK distribution rights to the film and set it for a 15 November 2013 release,[7] while Sundance Selects acquired North American distribution rights.[8] International sales were handled by Protagonist Pictures.[9]
The first trailer was released on 16 September 2013.[10] In the United Kingdom, the film was simultaneously released in theaters and on the BFI Player on 25 October 2013.[11] It opened in the United States on 17 December 2013.[12]
^Bradshaw, Peter (24 October 2013). "The Selfish Giant – review". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 30 January 2016. Retrieved 4 November 2014.
