An antidote to every phony show about high school ever shown on the WB, "High School" is another harrowing documentary from that most harrowing of documentarians, Frederick Wiseman.
Once again, Wiseman lets his cameras roll and leaves it to the viewer to draw conclusions. But don't be surprised if the conclusion you draw is that this particular high school is a fascist, Orwellian hell for its students, where the faculty are dictators and the attendees their cowering subjects. No other moment in the film nails that point home more than the one in which a bullying principal needlessly humiliates a student.
My high school experience wasn't like this, but regardless, this movie didn't make me want to revisit my high school years anytime soon.
Grade: A
Once again, Wiseman lets his cameras roll and leaves it to the viewer to draw conclusions. But don't be surprised if the conclusion you draw is that this particular high school is a fascist, Orwellian hell for its students, where the faculty are dictators and the attendees their cowering subjects. No other moment in the film nails that point home more than the one in which a bullying principal needlessly humiliates a student.
My high school experience wasn't like this, but regardless, this movie didn't make me want to revisit my high school years anytime soon.
Grade: A