Rocking and Rolling

So, I ventured onward and watched a similar film. Also a talented-child documentary, "Rock School," is a film I had been meaning to see. Ever since I heard of the Paul Green School of Rock Music and the documentary based on it, I was thoroughly intrigued. The film intends to chronicle the lives of the students at Paul Green's School of Rock Music (henceforth to be known as PGSoRM) and the life of the "school's" founder, Paul Green, himself. However, the film doesn't quite accomplish what it intends to. Unlike "Autism: The Musical," the film never really hones in on the kids too much. While the first film studied the kids and their families, Rock School seems to just glance around them. In fact, every person in the film seems to be a floating, fluttering figure dancing around a center that doesn't seem to exist. To put it plainly: the film has no focus.

Truth be told, the film tries to create a "plot" by using the more talented musicians' trip to Zappanale festival in Germany as a climax, it often veers off course to do "other things." The topic could have been dissected and analyzed much more thoroughly as opposed to just taking a few un-ripened concepts and mixing them around in a bath of editing madness. The makers of the movie can't make up their mind about anything. This works against the film except in one case: "is Paul Green an effective teacher?"

Green's methods generally involve shouting, cursing, and berating his students using his own unique brand of 'tough love.' While he says he loves the kids, he doesn't seem to. But yet, all of the students improve musically, and in their one-on-one testimonials express their respect for Green. Despite his immature antics, they really seem to admire him. However, the film is not so certain (Editorialization: Paul Green is a gigantic prick. However, someone somewhere once said, "Do not judge a film by the content of its characters, but by the overall skill and talent put into its execution." So, I'll try to keep my opinion on the man out of my review).

While the film has some great merits (the well-filmed concert scenes and the aforementioned obscurity being notable ones), it largely falls flat, failing to deliver the genius and rock superstardom that it wants to. The one person to whom I'd recommend seeing this would be a Zappa fan. The footage of the PGSoRM performing at Zappanale with long time Zappa collaborator Napoleon Murphy Brock was top notch entertainment; the performance of Inca Roads therein is phenomenal. Worth a rent with a good deal of fast forwarding, at best.

Films Since I Started the Marathon:

-"Autism: The Musical," (2007, Tricia Regan) - 8/10

-"Rock School," (2005, Don Argott) - 5/10