"Spellbound" is a good documentary that details children from all regions of the country, who are about to compete against each other in the National Spelling Bee.
The film gives real insight into what kind of isolated lives many of these children live. Some do nothing but study night and day, some have tutors, but the one thing that I took from this film about these kids, is how they all are super intelligent, and as such, they also suffer from a lack of close friendships. The only time these kids seem to let loose and enjoy themselves is when they are at a competition with other kids who are just like them.
The method of telling the stories of eight students is pretty straight forward. We meet their families, and find out how they got involved, but you never hear about what the children would like to get out of the competition. They all want to win, and make their families proud, but isn't there more than that, that they would like to achieve? Do they think that this will change their life somehow? We never find out.
Towards the end of the film we see a couple of brief interviews with previous winners. I would have loved to have heard more stories from other winners telling the viewer what kind of impact winning or coming in second may have had on their lives. After so many years, did they think it was worth all of the work, or was it a waste of time. Did any of them resent their parents or teachers for pushing them forward into the competition. I just think that there were other avenues that would have made the film more interesting.
I'm glad I saw "Spellbound", but it's definitely not the "classic" that I had heard about.
7 out of 10
The film gives real insight into what kind of isolated lives many of these children live. Some do nothing but study night and day, some have tutors, but the one thing that I took from this film about these kids, is how they all are super intelligent, and as such, they also suffer from a lack of close friendships. The only time these kids seem to let loose and enjoy themselves is when they are at a competition with other kids who are just like them.
The method of telling the stories of eight students is pretty straight forward. We meet their families, and find out how they got involved, but you never hear about what the children would like to get out of the competition. They all want to win, and make their families proud, but isn't there more than that, that they would like to achieve? Do they think that this will change their life somehow? We never find out.
Towards the end of the film we see a couple of brief interviews with previous winners. I would have loved to have heard more stories from other winners telling the viewer what kind of impact winning or coming in second may have had on their lives. After so many years, did they think it was worth all of the work, or was it a waste of time. Did any of them resent their parents or teachers for pushing them forward into the competition. I just think that there were other avenues that would have made the film more interesting.
I'm glad I saw "Spellbound", but it's definitely not the "classic" that I had heard about.
7 out of 10