Another great Frederick Wiseman documentary. This is one of his first and has little of the muckraking content of some of his other, more disturbing titles, like Titicutt Follies, Primate, Meat, and Law & Order. Here we have life at a high school in the late 60's and the times they definitely are-a-changin', as they say. We have the classroom of bead and sunglasses-wearing proto hippies railing against restrictive policies, students whining about not wanting to wear gym clothes, girls performing calisthenics to music while wearing outfits that look like burlap sacks, pushy parents fighting for their kids' rights, a creepy sex education lesson, ex-students coming back from Vietnam with war stories, and a strange, fat-shaming girls class that was either fashion design or carriage (I couldn't figure out which).
What we really have here is an x-ray of society on the brink of change. Teachers with 50s values and manners versus kids breaking away into the freedom and chaos of the late 60s. Fascinating.
Wiseman is considered one of the godfathers of documentary film so i would definitely recommend this.
What we really have here is an x-ray of society on the brink of change. Teachers with 50s values and manners versus kids breaking away into the freedom and chaos of the late 60s. Fascinating.
Wiseman is considered one of the godfathers of documentary film so i would definitely recommend this.