Released Date: 24 November 2005

Synopsis:

Rocks Stars. Guitar Gods. Kids.

At some point in their lives, most everyone dreams of becoming a rock star: feeling the roar of the crowd; basking in the adoration of legions of fans; experiencing the adventures of life on the road. Now imagine fulfilling that fantasy as a child. Welcome to ROCK SCHOOL.

First time feature documentary filmmaker Don Argott traces the ups-and-downs of the Paul Green School of Rock Music, a unique institution founded in Philadelphia in 1999, dedicated to teaching children ages nine through 17 the ins-and-outs of rock and roll.

That’s rock and roll, kids. Not hip-hop. Not Britney. Not Limp Bizkit. But a thunderous roll call of musical greats: Led Zeppelin. Pink Floyd. Black Sabbath. Carlos Santana. Frank Zappa.

ROCK SCHOOL follows an entire season of classes, in the process establishing school founder, director, and self-proclaimed “überlord” Paul Green as one of the most complex, contradictory, and unforgettable characters in recent films. A whirling dervish of manic, pinball-machine energy, Green is at once sensitive and verbally abusive; generous-spirited and mercilessly critical. As tornado-like as his tantrum-filled teaching style can be, however, Paul’s commitment to his student’s goal of achieving musical greatness is never in doubt.

Paul’s thorny relationship with his students is the true subject of ROCK SCHOOL. For while the sight of nine-year-olds performing Black Sabbath songs outfitted in full heavy metal regalia is charming, ROCK SCHOOL goes deeper: posing tough questions about the nature of prodigal talent and flamed-out youth. Is Paul—a failed guitar God himself—fostering his students’ gifts or inhibiting them? Is he living vicariously through his students? Or using the school to fulfill the rock and roll dream of suspended adolescence?

Filmed cinéma vérité style to create an intimate portrait of this one-of-a-kind instructor and his eagerly aspiring students, ROCK SCHOOL reaches its climax in Bad Doberon, East Germany, where the School of Rock Music honor roll is invited to perform the music of Frank Zappa. This special festival dedicated to the prog-rocker’s oeuvre features Zappa legends such as Ike Willis and Napoleon Murphy-Brock. . . and the kids prove they can rock with the very best of them.
A meditation on talent and teaching, ROCK SCHOOL is a celebration of youthful promise and steadfast dreams. It is also a kick-ass music movie that should be played loud!

Movie Review:

Paul Green is the founder and director of (surprise, surprise) The Paul Green School of Rock Music, and the kind of person you would just love to hate. He rages and swears and reckons insults appropriate teaching tools and you know what? He might just be right. In his school, that is. “Rock School” is first-time director Don Argott’s documentary about Paul Green and the “all-stars” from his school, where kids between the ages of 9 and 17 are trained to be rock musicians. We’re given an inside look on how this immediately abrasive man runs his school bulldozes over his students; come sing along, won’t you? It’s really kind of fun.

The documentary is more or less made up of interviews with Green and his protégés, some of whom are remarkably talented, others wonderfully amusing. Belonging to the latter category is a pair of twins whose mother so earnestly encourages them to become full-fledged rockers that she painstakingly styles mohawks before gigs and draws “Ozzy” on the kids’ knuckles. 9 year olds in punk make-up, head banging headily onstage? Funnier than it reads, we can guarantee. Yet nothing comes across as phony – there is something genuinely beguiling about these children and their quests in becoming rock musicians. Sure, they head bang but they take it Very Seriously, thank you very much.

The entire movie builds up to a Zappanale Festival in Germany, an annual festival dedicated to the music of Frank Zappa. By the students’ and Green’s own admission, Zappa is no walk in the park. Even original band member Napoleon Murphy-Brock acknowledged, in an interview, the level of difficulty of their songs. So when the students bring the house down in Germany, we come to understand Paul Green and his methods and motives. He’s not just a rocker past his prime, living vicariously through his students and venting on innocent teens simply because he couldn’t realize his dream. He has in fact carved out a niche for himself by being best at what he does: grooming young stars that have the talent and work ethic to boot. This is a refreshing change from the “Those can’t do, teach” mantra that occasionally surrounds feel-good-inspiring-teacher movies so laden with self-defeat. “Rock School” is essentially the story of Paul Green at his prime, thumbing his nose at the state of mainstream music (and perhaps everything mainstream) these days.

Still, it’s hard to describe what kind of mentor Paul Green is. He claims that his job everyday is to visit each room and yell at the kids, which appears to be true, but in the end, he’s actually much less of a jerk than he makes himself out to be. The students seem to understand that too, and take his insults with a pinch of salt and plenty of good humour. While he does utilize some colourful vocabulary in his tirades, he is never condescending, and treats his students equally. He respects them and their potential talents, which requires a considerable bite of humble pie – at one point, he even confesses to practicing in secret when he finds that the students are catching up to him.

The dilemma, as Green puts it, that he faces in being “Paul Green the guitar player” and “Paul Green the guitar teacher” is therefore an arresting one, and is exactly the kind of subtle detail that astute movies are made up of. And what good movie doesn’t have its eccentric motley crue of characters? In “Rock School”, we have the amazing talent in C.J. Tywoniak, the 12 year-old guitar God in the making who’s so astoundingly good that his solo earned him a lasting ovation at Zappanale, and a fan in Murphy-Brock. Then there’s Madi Diaz Svalgard, the rebel to Paul Green’s tyrant – their spats are so exasperating that they make for ingenious drama. Lastly, there’s Will O’ Connor, the suicidal teen who made good from his experience with Rock School. Basically, it’s an eclectic cast any director would have killed for; Paul Green’s school is dysfunctional, and great to watch because of it.

And did we mention the music? Oh, the music. Paul Green could not have said it better when he announced, “I wanted to be a rock star in 1972, I’d never want to be a rock star now!” It isn’t a groundbreaking documentary like Michael Moore’s “Bowling For Columbine”, nor is it near the caliber of 2002’s “Spellbound”, but “Rock School” has its endearing qualities, and a superior soundtrack (played live by teens!) in its arsenal; what’s not to like?

Movie Rating:

(A pedestrian documentary lit up by its army of fascinating characters; surely the awesome music deserves a star on its own)

Review by Angeline Chui