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Mark Cousins follows his 15-hour opus The Story Of Film with a comparatively bite-sized discourse on how world cinema has depicted childhood.

The result is a dizzying compilation of clips connected, rather preciously, by footage of his niece and nephew playing with marbles.

Cousins introduces excerpts from some 53 titles that range from the reassuringly familiar ( E.T. , Meet Me In St Louis ) to the bafflingly obscure.

Our host’s lilting voiceover remains an acquired taste, but his boundless passion is never in question.

Neil Smith is a freelance film critic and writer who contributes regularly to Heat, SFX and Screen International. He's a long-time member of the London Film Critics’ Circle and was a contributing editor at Total Film for many years.