Truly Dreadful Film

Highly Overrated But Still Good

everything you have heard about this movie is true.

a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.

First a word about the school. MLC school in Sydney, Australia was established in 1886 and educates girls pre-K through Year 12. On several occasions the teachers are stating to the students something about their privilege, and when you look at the fee structure for 2014 you get a hint why. It varies a bit by grade but for teens it is in the order of $26,000 a year. For those who think US dollars that is between $24,000 and $25,000 depending on the exchange rate. Or closer to what one might pay for college. So these kids come from well-off families.Mrs. Karen Carey is the music director at the school and they usually give a big concert, involving most of the students, every two years in the Sydney Opera house. This film documents that for a recent year, beginning about 8 months before the concert is scheduled.As some have mentioned it often feels more like a "reality show" than a pure documentary. There are mild disciplinary talks with some of the students who have a habit of getting in trouble. Some talks with groups who don't seem interested in participating. But Mrs Carey feels strongly that such participation can be a "life-changing" experience for them if they go at it with the right attitude.I was one of those kids once, but at a small town public school. I played in the band, trumpet, and was good enough to be first chair and participate in regional honor bands. I can relate to this content, being in music and in performances during my formative years was a key activity to help form who I became as an adult.The film ends with the big concert, excerpts of most if not all performances. It ends with Emily, a Chinese-Australian student whose dad was a violinist but died young. Emily clearly grew up in Sydney but is somewhat reserved and, when asked if she would perform a violin concerto with orchestra at the big performance she was reluctant. Oh she knew she could learn the music, she wasn't sure about performing in such a venue for such a big audience.But Emily did great, in fact it was more like seeing and hearing a professional violinist perform. She was flawless, her pitch was always perfect, she performed with emotion, and she finished with a big smile. Even though some parts of the film might be less thrilling, seeing her performance made the whole viewing great.

contains spoilerThe first review in this section is such a Rant against Authority that it provokes me to write a rejoinder.This documentary will particularly interest lovers of classical music, because the film is full of it, and really good music too, edgy music from early 20th century composers (Ravel's string quartet, Vaughan Williams' Variation of a Theme of Thomas Tallis.It will particularly interest those who have an interest in how kids grow up, and acquire the discipline to achieve things that were once beyond their reach.And it will particularly interest those who are curious about how interventionist schools shape their students, and why the elite private schools of Australia, Britain and presumably other countries achieve such success in academic and artistic areas.MLC (Methodist Ladies College) is one of the elite girls' schools of Sydney, with expensive fees, a strong culture of achievement, and a policy to apply this to music. The annual school concert in the iconic Sydney Opera House = Mrs Carey's Concert = is one of the highlights of the school year, in which every student, musical or otherwise, interested or not, is obliged to take part.Chinese girls make up outsized part of the school's musical talent, and the film strikes a nice balance by focussing on two of them: one who is the school's outstanding violinist, Emily Sun, and another, Iris, who is the cool, defiant one, determined not to take part.Yes, the girls are pushed to achieve things, to play complex music that at first, and even close to concert night, seems beyond them. But they get swept up in it, push themselves, and they make it. You live it with them, and you share their excitement when the concert comes off.Reviewer 1 up above was aghast that this is achieved by a subtly authoritarian culture, where it is drummed into the girls that their music must come first in their lives. Well, whether it's football coaches or law firms or financial traders, that is how success is achieved, how promise is translated into achievement. That is why private schools are so good at what they do, and why these teenage girls, by the end of it, belong on the stage of the Sydney Opera House.

This is a documentary set in MLC High School, looking to record the preparation of the girls school concert, which is held every two years in the Sydney Opera House. The concert is organised by Mrs. Karen Carey. She's an experienced teacher who grew up in the country and believes in the opportunities that these events can hold for students. Her problem is convincing Chinese violinist Emily that she has the confidence to lead the orchestra. Emily lives with just her mother because her father died when she young. A number of the teachers suspect that she internalises her grief and encourage her to release it through her music. But Emily has been led astray at school and misses her music rehearsals. Mrs. Carey believes that if Emily takes on the role of orchestra leader it will be an opportunity to reform her. Meanwhile, Carey is also dealing with a group of students who don't want to participate in singing practice. One of the girls is Iris and she speaks for a minority in saying that they find the practices tedious and that they don't want to be there. I hope a lot of students watch this absorbing documentary. Some will be deterred by the music and the film's slow start. There are a few too many rehearsal scenes early on. Yet this does little to detract from the film's slowly developed strength: how much it makes you understand. There is an optimistic, human story here, as much as an institutional one. MLC looks like a great school. The students are thoughtful, intelligent and passionate. And their teachers are similar. They're confident in their knowledge but emotionally engaged with the students too. There's a proper sense of care and involvement shared by both parties on screen. But directors Bob Connolly and Sophie Raymond are frank about the school's issues too. There's the announcement that a number of students have been involved with skipping school, drinking and lying to their parents and teachers. The best documentaries are balanced in their subject matter. And Connolly finds this throughout the most personal and intimate stories too. In such a positive environment like this one there is great potential but equally, the risk of throwing it away for the good life. Mrs. Carey recognises this most imminently through the troubled Emily and we see why she's so intent on pushing her out of her comfort zone. She justifies it as preparation for the real world but also talks openly about how she herself grew up in the country, without music and without the opportunity. She also reflects on the change she has seen in her students when they rise to the occasion, building their confidence and self-image. But impressively, Connolly and his team have also captured the woman's flaws too, in particular, her vulnerability. She's internally conflicted by her own self-doubt, asking if all this time is worth it and there are also moments where students like Iris question Carey's drive towards conformity. Is the school really offering an opportunity if it's imposed on you? Arguably, the less visible the director and their influence on the screen are in a documentary, the more authentic the reality becomes. The lack of transparency or intrusion from Connolly here makes a lot of these conversations feel unrehearsed, more honest and powerful. As such, I found many of Mrs. Carey's confessions to be quite moving and understandable. One of the more abstract and optimistic ideas throughout the documentary is the notion of art as an expression of the self. This alone is a fascinating concept, visualised most elegantly in the film's stirring climatic concert. By building Emily's emotional upbringing so intimately early on, there's so much more at stake here than just one magnificent violin solo.

A great film with which to launch the 2011 Adelaide film festival, Bob Connolly and Sophie Raymond managed to capture the struggles of a headstrong and brilliant music teacher with equally headstrong students, on a journey towards a daunting and ambitious concert at the Sydney Opera House. We follow multiple characters through 18 months of preparation and hard work, but a single failure on anyone's part will jeopardise the whole effort.This is a great film about ego, passion, learning and commitment.Bob Connolly's masterful camera work and Sophie Raymond's gorgeous sound recording bring this story to life with an impressive intimacy.