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Photo: Mariel Kon |
Of the many complaints hurled at the film industry over the past few years, perhaps the one most frequently heard is that a hugely disproportionate number of films released each year are targeted to a teenage audience. Critics and fans alike bemoan the recent explosion of superhero franchise films and dumbed-down comedies, and see filmmaking in the new century as reduced from an art form to the lowest common denominator. I wish that those who believe that the cinema is on the edge of being obliterated by CGI explosions could have witnessed the incredible work of the students of
this year’s Young Film Critics program at BAM. To begin, we approached the idea of what a “teen” movie can be by exploring some of the greatest films ever made about that age. We went as far back as Jean Vigo’s scabrous short feature on the oppressiveness of life in school, 1933’s
Zéro de conduite. We followed the portrayal of teen life in such classic films as Ray’s
Rebel Without a Cause (1955), Godard’s still-edgy
Masculin-Feminin (1966) and George Lucas’ breakout feature,
American Graffiti (1973). We also examined what Hollywood still appears to consider to be “outsider” voices with three recent movies that were first films for their respective directors: Cary Fukunaga’s
Sin Nombre, Justin Simien’s
Dear White People, and Ryan Coogler’s
Fruitvale Station.
For those out there who fret over the future of film, in terms of both its content and its audience, the pieces in this series will testify to the imaginative power and sharp critical eye that teenagers can bring to bear on films worthy of their intelligence.
—Josh Cabat, Instructor