This Wednesday we'll be watching Spellbound. Follow the link above for more info about the movie. If you would like to leave a review or discuss the movie, please do so in the Comments section of this entry.
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
Spellbound
This Wednesday we'll be watching Spellbound. Follow the link above for more info about the movie. If you would like to leave a review or discuss the movie, please do so in the Comments section of this entry.
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Well, we watched Spellbound last night. Joy and I had seen it two years back at Cinematheque, so the film wasn't new to us, but I loved it this time as well.
Content ****
The DVD cover for this one says "A real nail-biter," and I would agree. Even though I'd seen it before, I had forgotten who had won, and by the end I was on the edge of my seat. The characters the filmmakers chose, and the parents of those competitors, we priceless. They were so unique that they just carried the film. The other thing that made the film great was that none of the kids were self-conscious in front of the camera.
I think that this was one of the first sub-culture docs that got wide distribution, and now there are a lot of them coming out - Murderball, Air Guitar Nation, Wordplay - It's interesting to see people with a unique passion like this.
Organization ***
The film was organized in such a way as to give us a glimpse of each of the competitors that were being followed, before we saw them at the National Spelling Bee. These glimpses were effective, as I really connected with each kid, their family, and their community, and found myself rooting for each of them in the National Bee. The one thing that bothered me about the organization is the ending. It seemed sloppy to show the TV station interviewing Nupur, the champion, before we are shown her correctly spelling the final word. It confused all of us in the room that were watching.
Style ****
Spellbound was very simple stylistically. The interviews with the parents and kids were sit-down interviews, and they used a lot of footage from tv stations to show the regional bees. The theme for the title graphics was continued throughout, as it acted as a sort of scorecard once the National Bee was actually playing out. Simple yet effective.
Mechanics ****
Overall, Spellbound was a smooth documentary. There were a couple of times were the filmmakers voices came into play, but that was only because their questions need to give context to some really insightful comments into the characters.
I loved Spellbound! This was my first documentary and I really enjoyed the reality of elation and stress that it relayed. Making a spelling bee exciting for the general public wouldn't be a simple task, but the film makers did a great job of setting it up so that you care about the contestants.
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