Chain Camera

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SIZE="3" COLOR="#FFCC66" FACE="Wingdings 2" ><B>êêê</B></FONT><B>  Stars.  Not Rated.</B></div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="588"><div> Reviewed by Shelley Cameron</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="588"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="19" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="588" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 23 WIDTH="588"><div> Talkin' bout my generation</div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="1" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="593" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="293"><div> Directed by Kirby Dick</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="293"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="19" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="293" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> The students at John Marshall High School near Hollywood, California are the cast and crew for this intriguing documentary film recording snapshots of their own lives in their senior year.  Documentary filmmaker Kirby Dick (<I>The Life and Death of Bob Flanagan</I>) sat with the idea of completely removing the barrier between himself and his subject for some years.  He finally hit upon a "chain letter" approach that placed video cameras in the hands of 10 students to film their lives for one week.  At week's end, the cameras were passed to 10 more students and so on for 19 weeks in 1999.  He collected more than 700 hours of videotape and culled from this a representative sample of high school life in southern California at the turn of the century.  </div> <bR> <div> The resulting vignettes of 16 students in the class of 2000 are satisfying.  Participating students were given only the most cursory instruction and had carte blanche to tape whatever they chose.  Population at the school includes kids from many countries and 41 different ethnic backgrounds.  This diverse group reveals a range of unique personalities and situations as well as the universal nature of this oft-contemplated time of life.  With so much material to work with, it is noteworthy that the overall tone is one of optimism and promise for the future.  The positive spin comes not from filmmaker Kirby Dick but from the participants themselves who even faced with the celebrated angst of growing up and some major obstacles, chose to see the opportunity to star in their own movie as a serendipitous stroke of good luck. </div> <bR> <div> Refreshingly different from the many films made by adults about teens, the camera chain that advanced around the school has the students behind and in front of the lens.  Ironically, John Marshall High is the very school seen in <I>Grease </I>as Rydell High in that very unrealistic, if very nostalgic, remembrance of high school in America.  Contrastingly, in true cinéma vérité style, camera placement and composition differs creatively with each segment.  Heads half out of some of the frames or an improvised tripod showing a lot of dead space notwithstanding, these kids are completely comfortable in front of the camera.  They have grown up in a video world and are never at a loss for words.</div> <bR> <div> They have their share of growing pains and although all are memorable, the sample seems a tad repetitive.  Maybe the kids who expressed less drama in their lives seemed boring, however, these kids are a lot like kids I've witnessed.  Rosemary isn't sure she's going to make it to graduation day and is thinking of quitting to pick up some good money nude dancing like her friend.  Cinnamon is a soft spoken but self-assured lesbian who hopes to proudly take her girlfriend to the prom.  Her girlfriend has a moment on camera quietly taking inventory of all the things she is terrified of.  Jesse has developed an edge from trying to cope with his alcoholic mother and is channeling his intelligence and strength into every grass roots helping organization in the hood.  Manuel's superior IQ sets him disdainfully apart from his academic inferiors but when alone with the camera, he reveals his vulnerability.  Perhaps the most joyful and promising is Nathan, a special Ed student, legally blind and out of the mainstream of life.  Regaining his sight and elected homecoming prince, he guilelessly concludes that he must be liked.  Silva, recently emigrated from Ethiopia, observes the distorted way America was portrayed in her homeland, and conversely how other countries are portrayed on American TV.  </div> <bR> <div> The filmmakers' task was to select a representative cross section for an accurate portrayal.  They have done this accomplished this and skillfully edited a year-in-the-life that culminates at the graduation ceremony, where the bold valedictory address leaves one with food for thought. </div> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="1" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="592" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 20 WIDTH="588"><div> Shelley Cameron <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#FFCC66" FACE="Symbol" >Ó</FONT> 2002</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="588"><div> <A HREF="mailto:shlcameron@aol.com" TARGET="_top" TITLE="mailto:shlcameron@aol.com"><U><U>Shelley@reelmoviecritic.com</U></U></A></div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>