Paper Clips (2004)
"Paper Clips" is about a group of
students who collect 6 million of the titular standard
office items to represent the 6 million Jews who were
killed in the Holocaust.
But, really, truly, it is so much
more.
Indulge me for a second: When I
was younger, I worked for a rock radio station in
a major market. We had a live talk show on Sunday
nights, hosted by our main newsperson, and I screened
the calls for the show for several months. Every week,
teenagers would call with the same question about
coming of age, sexuality and relationships. It got
old quick. Yet, the same questions kept coming. I
was lamenting this to a friend one evening, talking
about how teenagers were stupid and never learned
and she replied simply, "Lodger, they can't help it,
puberty just keeps spitting them out." Suddenly I
got it.
I thought about that here. Because
"Paper Clips" isn't so much about the Holocaust, its
horrors and its survivors as it is about children.
It's about the importance of teaching children about
the Holocaust so that it can never happen again. It's
about how we can't just teach them once and stop.
Puberty just keep spitting them out. There are fresh,
eager young minds to teach every day.
And "Paper Clips" isn't just about
the kids, of course. It's also about the teachers
and educators. The film takes place at a middle school
in Whitwell, Tennessee, a rural town of about 1,600
people. In 1998, a teacher there decided, without
much fanfare, to teach a course on the Holocaust.
The children, none of whom were Jewish, none of whom
had ever met a Jewish person, were soon discovering
lessons of tolerance. These children, all protestant,
were taught the harsh reality of the Holocaust. It
was not sugarcoated.
At one point, upon being told that
6 million Jews had died during Hitler's regime, a
young boy asked, "How many is 6 million? I've never
seen 6 million." From here a remarkable odyssey began.
I'm crying now writing about this
film. I was in tears ten minutes into this film. It
is impossible not to be moved in immeasurable ways
by this film. It is full of hope, goodness, kindness,
and understanding. It is full of love and tolerance.
This isn't just a film to cheer for, This is a film
that will fill your heart in ways that you thought
were impossible.
For sure, when the film started,
I thought it might be quite bad. It begins with the
most cheesy music, the most typical shots of morning
breaking, the most folksy narration of a letter being
read that you ever heard. It almost seems like an
informercial for a laxative. All of this fades quickly.
While not the most cinematic and perfectly constructed
film ever made, this is a moot point. This film is
meant to be hokey. Optimism is hokey in this jaded
modern world in which we live. This is a film that
proves it's okay to be hopeful. It's okay to be sentimental.
It's okay to have a heart.
Even the most typical of devices
work here. Tom Bosley, the dad from "Happy Days,"
reads a letter he wrote to the children collecting
the paper clips. Others do as well, many of them survivors
or friends and relatives of those lost. People tell
of relatives they lost and send paper clips in their
honor. While these type of "testimonials" are normally
trite and badly used in other films, they work perfectly
here.
The film obviously began production
in the middle of the story, but it doesn't matter.
There's a little bit of obvious recreation here and
there to get the story started. Again, who cares?
These are piddly problems. There's just great moments
here on ce the set-up is established. Survivors come
and tell their stories to the townspeople. A trunk
from Germany arrives with paper clips inside and notes
attached to Anne Frank. We see the effect this project
has on teachers and students. We see the effect this
project has on the town.
If I have any complaint on the film,
it's that it refuses to address the issue of tolerance
in the wake of 9/11. There is an odd 9/11 moment here
(the date is placed on the screen and narration vaguely
reflects the moment without mentioning it specifically).
It may have been too much to attempt to shoot off
into the tangent of 9/11 for the filmmakers. But as
an audience member, I wanted one person, in particular
a student, to comment on the importance of tolerance
in our post 9/11 world. I think that is a missed opportunity
here.
As a jaded, old, cynical bastard,
I thought there was no need for another documentary
about the Holocaust. I thought I'd seen it all. I
was so wrong. I was reminded yet again, how important
it is to remember. How important it is to never forget.
How important it is to teach.
At the end of the film a young girl
says, "I'll never look at a paper clip the same way
again." Nor will I. Nor will anyone who sees this
beautiful film.
Notes:
Directed by Elliot Berlin.
The principal in the film is Linda
Hooper.
The film was shot on video.
