Reviews

Having been through film school, I really enjoyed "Film School Confidential" -- it perfectly captured the personalities of the teachers, the students, and the student films themselves. I agree with the last reviewer that the student films themselves are a major triumph of the movie. One memorable sequence has a wholesome mid-western sophomore watching the grunge/metal inspired dark experimental films of his fellow students, followed immediately by his sweet and wholesome movie about a cute little girl's first day on the bus to school. His film is, of course, ridiculed by the other students -- which is an oft-encountered film school moment. It sure brought back memories. Underdahl has used the editing to add commentary and humor to the story in a very effective and unconventional way. One student who makes experimental films and smokes too much dope, is introduced with jump cuts through all his dialogue -- as if he were in an experimental film. Underdahl's appreciation of the full spectrum of student personalities -- from the pretentious to the experimental to the ones with a simple, genuine desire to tell stories -- provides for pleasant surprises throughout the movie. The technical details -- the flicker and hot spot on the screen of the Steenbecks for instance -- give texture to the obvious love of film-making that Underdahl is sharing with us. The last scene with Sara watching her film on the Steenbeck, and slowing down the film to watch the two actors who don't know the camera is rolling and are sharing a genuine emotion... was very powerful. THAT was what film school was about. It gave us a place to experiment and manipulate time, space, sound... the rawness of that dirty film passing slowly on the steenbeck screen, and freezing... surprised me by bringing back very specific and exciting memories. There is a low-budget charm to the movie, so don't go in expecting the polish of big-budget Hollywood movies. This was made on a shoestring, with a lot of heart and some very clever humor.

This is a very entertaining, and affecting, movie that takes the points of view of ground troops on three sides of World War II (American, German, and Italian) -- each coming into contact with the others -- but the movie focuses on their own personal lives which, when compared one to the other are surprisingly similar. The director, Ari Taub, tells this story with a humorous and quirky touch, showing us the human qualities of our enemies and suggesting that if we ever did humanize our enemies wars would be a lot harder to fight.

There are several story lines to follow here, and the film weaves in and out of each effortlessly -- no small feat. With a cast of -- I'm guessing here -- 50 or so speaking roles (each very well played), I was impressed at the skill of storytelling and the scope attempted on a minimal, truly independent, film budget. There is a "light touch" to the comedy in this movie, and while you might find yourself caught up in the exploits and quirky adventures of the different sets of "heroes", there is more at work here than that: without being preachy, Taub is showing us the futility, the madness, and the human comedy that is war.

I enjoyed this movie a lot, and it's worth checking out if it lands at a film festival or video store near you.