Why director Bob Balaban chose to film Parents (1989) from the perspective of a child
"I wanted you to feel you were inside a kid’s head so you wouldn’t be sure if these things were happening or if this was just a strange boy’s point of view."
Perspective is everything in film, and Bob Balaban understood how to use it to his advantage. The director’s 1989 film Parents took the audience through fear of the two people we are supposed to feel safest with: Our parents.
The film takes place from the point of view of Michael Laemle, a 10-year-old who begins to suspect his parents are cannibals. During an interview with The Daily News, director Bob Balaban said that he made the choice to shoot many scenes as though the audience were children, too.
“Kids look up at everybody,” said Balaban. “Nothing is on their level, so I figured it appropriate to shoot the movie that way,” Balaban said. “I wanted you to feel you were inside a kid’s head so you wouldn’t be sure if these things were happening or if this was just a strange boy’s point of view.”
Adolescence remains a theme throughout the film, and it was one of the driving forces that drew Balaban to the project. “I think I was attracted to this script — as we all are to things — for a very subconscious reason. It must have reminded me in some way of how I felt as a child. There must have been something about me in the script…Some say the movie reminds them of their own childhood — adults talking about things you don’t quite understand, giving you code for things. You know there’s something behind it, but you can’t quite crack the code until you’re older.”
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