OT: Our Town (2002)
In the Reagan era, ketchup became a vegetable and
thousand upon thousands of dollars in funding the arts
and arts in education were lost. It was during this
time that Dominguez High School in Compton, CA stopped
putting on plays. In 2000, with no stage, no funding,
no costumes or props, a single teacher brought back
the arts to Dominguez. Her name is Catherine Borek.
Filmmaker Scott Hamilton Kennedy captures Miss
Borek, Miss Greene and 24 students as they attempt to
put on “Thornton Wilder’s “Our Town” with no help and
no money. But Hamilton’s documentary digs much deeper
than this and he uncovers a teenage existence that seems
elevated above the gangs, drugs, sex and violence that
one normally would associate with a school like Dominguez
in a community like Compton. Hamilton is able to show
us not only the daily existence of these young people,
their homes and family lives, their relationships and
societal problems, but also the underlying hope of youth.
His subjects are vivid, bright, interesting and open
to the camera and Hamilton exposes them to us without
ever once becoming maudlin or expletive.
At heart, the look at life in a modern school system
seems much more frightening and out-of-control than
our own high school days. The world has changed so much
and so has high school life. But when we stop and really
listen to these teens, and really experience their lives
with them, we find so much similarity between them and
our own teenage selves. As a middle class white man
who graduated over 20 years ago, I often find modern
youth to be far different from myself. But these young
people reminded me of myself so much. They were male
and female, primarily African-American and Hispanic,
yet they seemed so much like me and my friends when
we were young. It was eye-opening to acknowledge that,
really, there isn’t much difference between these kids
and the kid I was. Wow!
Hamilton uses many techniques to tell his story.
He breaks the film down in sections, like the acts of
the play, in “Daily Life,” “Love and Marriage” and “Death.”
But his most profound technique comes when he intercuts
segments of a performance of the play by a white cast
in the 70’s (A TV production with Hal Holbrook, Robby
Benson, Glynis O’Connor, Sada Thompson and other) to
both help his film flow and to juxtapose the differences
and similarities between his subjects and those that
we would consider the “standard” for such a play as
“Our Town.” “OT: Our Town” becomes much more than just
a group of kids putting on a play. It becomes a look
at high school life, particularly in a lower class neighborhood,
at the turn of the century.
Thanks to Miss Borek and her assistant Miss Greene
making a huge sacrifice and exerting a hugh effort,
and thanks to 24 kids who worked through a lot of life
and emotion to put on a play, Dominguez now has a drama
production every year. The school funds it every year.
This film is not only about how the power of the stage
(and all that putting on a play entails) can change
lives, but how it changes communities and familial relationships
and young people, and, yes, even us jaded old adults.
“OT: Our Town” reminds us of the power of the arts.
And how much we have lost by not making the arts available
to young people. The arts may have been costly to include
in high school curriculum but the price we have paid
for discontinuing their inclusion in young peoples life
is unfathomable. Thank you, Miss Borek and Mr. Hamilton
for reminding us.
Notes:
Every one of the 24 students who began the play
with Miss Borek made it through to the final performance,
a remarkable achievement. Miss Borek was given $5,000
for her next production.
Hamilton and Borek were dating when this film was
begun and they continue to do so.
U2’s “MLK” is sung in the film.
Mark Pellington is listed as a producer.
Seen at
SXSW 2002.
|
Report
Card
Content:
A+
Completeness: A+
Cinematography\Lighting: A+
Special Effects\Make Up: A+
Music: A+
Final
Grade: A+
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