Rock School (2005)
In my day job, I work with a lot
of teenagers. The corporate conglomerate that pays
my check each week insist that I and the other people
in similar positions to mine do not touch or talk
to the teenagers in any manner that is not "professional."
It's a load of shit and I know it and so do the kids.
I have no respect for the company I work for. I ignore
their insistence that I treat young people like subservient
inhuman robots. I treat them like people. I talk to
them like people. I joke with them, put my hand on
their shoulders, laugh with them, ask them about their
lives and even hug them when they need a hug. I refuse
to be fearful of this just because the conglomeration
I work for is so afraid of being sued that they have
instituted such ridiculous ideas about how to deal
with and direct people. And I know the company I work
for is no different than a thousand others. I know
the same sort of idiotic rhetoric and regulations
are infecting our public schools. I thought a lot
about this while I was watching "Rock School."
The man behind "Rock School," the
documentary, is Paul Green, a 30-something private
music teacher who has a business in Philly. Green
is amazing, he teaches kids as young as nine and ten
how to play music and how to put on rock shows. He
does this using every four-letter word in the book
and becoming physically involved with the youngsters
in his charge. The results are fantastic. Most children
flower under his tutelage. At the very least, they
have the times of their lives.
Watching Green at work here is simply
amazing. He is a force to be reckoned with. We get
nearly unrestricted access here. We get to see inside
the school as Green teaches, cajoles, argues with,
verbally abuses, and browbeats his students. And they
love him. Even Will O'Connor, the somewhat depressed
and highly intelligent kid who eventually leaves the
school, seems to have a true affinity for Green. Will
is indeed the second most fascinating person in the
film, after Green. There is little doubt from watching
this film that Green's school at least saved Will
from the path of depression and lonesomeness if not
from self-destruction.
Then there's the music. Green puts
on two shows with his students here. I won't go too
deeply into what happens, because that would ruin
the film. But Green puts on a tribute to Black Sabbath
with his younger, less experienced students and then
travels to Germany with his advanced musicians for
a Frank Zappa festival, dubbed Zappanale. Both of
these events provide an arc for the film and also
allow the audience to see more clearly how the teacher
works with his students. It is amusing to watch Green
tell the youngsters that they are playing for Satan
during the Sabbath show because one assumes most parents
would by horrified by such a thing, even those cool
and untraditional enough to allow their kids to go
to the Rock School. That is indeed the beauty of Green.
He breaks every single rule and ultimately it works.
"Rock School" is one of the most
unique and fun documentaries you can imagine. It's
like "Spellbound" with a backbeat. There are some
very complex and interesting things going on psychologically
here. And while Green may be as nontraditional and
as eccentric as they come, there is no doubt that
his true passion for his students and their talent
is at the core of what makes his school, as well as
this film, an epic success.
Notes:
Directed by Don Argott.
Nearly all the music in the film
is provided by the students of the school or Zappanale
participants.
The film played Sundance in January
of 2005. It was picked up by Newmarket who released
it in June of 2005.
Viewed in Austin at a press sneak
in March of 2005. The film played SXSW in 2005.
