July
17
American Teen Captures High School Drama
Is American Teen a brilliantly accurate doc that catches you up in the intense hormonal drama of five high school students on the verge of leaving small town Warsaw, Indiana for college? Or is it a manipulatively fake reality-TV-style doc that alters fact to preserve dramatic narrative drive? Nanette Burstein, who just had a baby in New York City, wasn't at the Arclight Wednesday night to defend her position. (Paramount Vantage opens the film July 25.)
It was up to four of the five kids who dominate the film--who have all completed their sophomore years in college--to take up the slack. As far as The Princess, The Jock, The Heartthrob and The Geek were concerned, Burstein got them right, even if she left thousands of feet of film on the cutting room floor. She started filming some 15 kids and didn't know what the main stories would be until she had been filming for several months. Burstein spent a full ten months prowling the halls, covering the teens like a blanket--full crews for big ball games, just herself and a small camera for parties and intimate scenes at home. The kids clearly trusted and liked her. And revealed themselves, warts and all.
The camera catches hunky football star Mitch watching admiringly as the director's favorite, pretty oddball would-be filmmaker Hannah--performs with a band. He then asks her out, and eventually breaks up with her via text message when she doesn't fit in with all his jock friends. Hannah comes out a lot better than Megan, who reveals a nasty streak that even her mother identifies as suppressed anger. And Burstein picks out many selfish, embarrassing moments for the parents as well.
The kids didn't see the film until the night before its Sundance premiere last January. And they were taken aback at first. But the movie has opened up their lives to such a degree that there's no looking back. They're on the road for a promo tour, and all agreed that there was no way they'd rather be having a dull summer in Warsaw than ordering creme brulee and capuccino at the Arclight Cafe. At the Q & A after the movie, they all admitted they'd be open to acting careers, and definitely do not want to go home again after college.
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i love the way this doc looks. can't wait to get this on dvd. this is a special movie
Posted by: Alan | July 17, 2008 at 09:34 PM
they all want to be actors because they already acted, IN MAKING THIS FILM. it's fabricated. completely. the students in the film even say so, repeatedly.
Posted by: jrogers | July 18, 2008 at 05:35 PM
Just saw the American Teen trailer. The docudrama looks awesome, fun, and entertaining. I cant wait to see it this weekend especially with my teenage daughter who it will benefit the most. Everyone had the high school experience whether it was good or bad we all still remember it.
Posted by: Lawrence Candy | July 23, 2008 at 04:30 PM