Several thoughts on HIGH SCHOOL
A FACT: It was made after TITICUT.
- Classroom experiences do play a part, but not a promising one. A teacher subjects her class to a reading of the pretty famous "Casey at the Bat." Later, another teacher attempts to explore poetic devices through discussion of a Simon & Garfunkel song(I forgot the name of the song). The second scene (and its relationship to the first) is again evidence of the possibilities for multiple interpretation in cinema verite. Some may see the second teacher a junior version of the first, noting her unawareness even of the irony behind the message of the song she has selected. An alternative, but not totally contradictory view sees this teacher(a fairly pretty girl, frankly speaking..) as a hopeful sign of progress within the school, someone who tries to select relevant and involving subject matter, but the students are so ACCUSTOMED TO BEING BORED BY THE EDUCATIONAL PROCESS, that they can't distinguish between the two. In either case, it is significant to note that Wiseman's mosaic structure allows for the comparison (that is, provides the evidence) but refuses to supply DIRECT INTERPRETATION.
- The film's opening is perhaps a bit overly suggestive. While we approach the school by a car, very likely noting the factory-like appearance of its exterior, we hear a song called "Dock of the Bay."(thank to the new app i downloaded on my iPhone. It recognised this song for me. Technologies do change our lives.) The song, as described by Wiseman in an interview, is about "the black experience in America...(and) the difference between the promise and what actually happened." Wiseman adds, "That seems to me to be very relevant to the subject I was filming, so i put it in at the beginning of the film." While even possibly relevant, music (and the verbal content within the song) employed in this fashion is akin to narration, and the direct expression of filmmaker attitude regrading his material by these means goes against the filming method. Above all, although the song may be thematically relevant (in Wisema's opinion), it is structurally IRRELEVANT.
- The principal of the school addresses a teacher assembly, and with tears in her eyes reads a letter written to her from a former student who is now in Vietnam. he is about to parachute into action, and he writes to thank his teachers and his high school for all they have done for him. He expressed the wish that in the event of his death, his insurance money should go toward setting up a scholarship for a student at the school. One sentence in his letter was so striking to me "I know I am only a body doing a job." Almost emotionally overcome, the principal finishes the letter and says, "Now, when you get a letter like this, to me it means that we are very successful at Northeast High School. I think you will agree with me." From this statement, we can easily GO BACKWARD and fit lots of things into place. The school's factory-like appearance, its repression of individuality, the military-like emphasis on authority, even the space program, lead to this aim - the production of "bodies" to "do a job". No external aids like music or narration are necessary to put the pieces together. The high school is doing the job it intends.
