Film & TV

Film Review: Mrs Carey’s Concert

Running Time: 95 minutes

Release Date: screened at BigPond Adelaide Film Festival (BAFF)

Mrs Carey’s Concert

This documentary follows High School Musical Director, Karen Carey, who choreographs a biennial classical concert at the Sydney Opera House and insists on the participation and total devotion of all 1200 female students.

Yes a documentary about a high school classical performance seems as exciting as a root canal, however it was surprisingly entertaining and my initial trepidation quickly dissipated.The clever editing managed to capture and frame all those interesting people which take this from the bland to the interesting. It focuses on three pivotal characters, the driven teacher, Karen Carey, who has difficulty understanding a students’ lack of passion and is out of touch with the realities of teen engagement. There is the shy, blooming maestro, Emily Sun, overcoming her past with both the help and hindrance of her aspirational musical mentors. Then there is the required antagonist, the sassy and disruptive Iris Shi, who defiantly refuses to play ball for the sake of her over enthusiastic teachers. Iris got invited to the opening of the BAFF but true to her style she gave it the two fingered salute and said NO. If you watch the film you can understand why.

By Bob Connolly and Sophie Raymond it has already picked up an exhibition screening at NYC’s MOMA in April 2011. The music is superb and together with their ability to find the story within and bring it to life it turns what may have been banal into a great back stage expose of school musicals within the teen fuelled challenges of rebellion, acceptance, and finding identity. It takes you back to those teachers you either loved and felt inspired by or simply detested. They managed to find a story where none may have been existed and luckily their central character continues to shine after the cameras have stopped rolling, which makes for a much stronger movie.

4/5 stars

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