Customer Reviews

Rock School

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

In the eyes of parents, teachers should be role models that help point students in the right direction. This guiding quality in teachers comes with much responsibility, as children have a naïve perception of society where the teachers become one of the major sources of knowledge and wisdom. Some of this responsibility rests within the professionalism of the educators, as it will help provide a healthy and enlightening environment for students. On occasion, it even seems like teachers must be on a level close to divinity, or sainthood. Paul Green who founded and runs the Paul Green School of Rock Music illustrates a defiant opposition to the parents' perception of the teaching profession.

"I am probably not qualified to teach" is one of the first things that the colorful character Green states in Rock School. His persona will undoubtedly raise some eyebrows, as he frequently swears in the presence of the students whose age ranges between nine and 17. He even goes to the depth of openly discussing Satanism with the students, which will certainly create some heated debates. There are also moments when he becomes very confrontational with the students where he screams and swears. He is the opposite of Jack Black's character that the audience can find in School of Rock (2003). Despite these qualities of Green, the students return with a deep burning desire to the school to practice and hone their musical talents.

The school of rock has an internal hierarchy where the students climb, as their skills improve. With the progress of the students skills Green intensifies his attention to those with exceptional talent while he nurtures those who are struggling. There is not a single student who seems to disappear in the crowd of the 120 students who attend the music school, and he never turns his back on any student regardless of talent. Green's sense for perfection also seems to rub off onto the students, as he demands the students to play whatever piece they are practicing with precise skillfulness. And if the student does not produce what is expected they quickly learn that a skipped practice is a missed opportunity.

The endless hours of practice lead up to the season when the students perform their acquired skills on stage. Two of the recitals include an introductory Black Sabbath show and a performance to pay their respect to the Guitar Gods. In addition, the best students are given the opportunity to travel to Germany and perform in the Zappanale festival for Frank Zappa fans from all over the world. During these performances, the audience gets the opportunity to see the students shine, as their skills emerge and they recognize their own progress in an overwhelming flood of applause.

One of his students says, "He is different around parents", about Green, which suggests that Green is aware of what is socially acceptable. Yet, the audience will recognize a behavioral tendency that many would not appreciate from their children's teachers. It is obvious that he is not always a role model. Many would consider Green dangerous and even damaging to the children. Yet, the students both love and hate Green, as he pushes them to improve. And it is not to the final test when the students truly discover the gift that Green has bestowed them. Jimmy Carl Black, the drummer in Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention, recognizes Greens efforts to whom he pleads "I hope you continue this, man."

It is with mixed feeling that the audience will see Green and his attempt to make musicians of the children. There are moments where the audience will drop their jaw on the floor, but it is not always for the same reason. At times the film induces laughter, and in others seriousness. This is certainly an intriguing documentary, which will give many reasons to argue what is right, or wrong, in regards to education. Regardless, it is obvious that Green succeeded with what he was sent out to accomplish with the highest mark. So remember, "Long live rock!"

I rented this movie under the advice of a coworker and was a little bothered at first because it seemed to drag on with no real direction. One thing I did like was that the teacher set Frank Zappa's music as the highest bar to reach at the school. In the end the kids get to go to Germany and play at a Zappa fest called "Zappanale". Napoleon Murphy Brock joins the kids (between nine and seventeen years old) for "Inca Roads". And they do a fantastic job! If you are a Zappa fan I think you would probably enjoy this movie as much as I did. Just stick with it to the end.

Guitarist and former aspiring rock star Paul Green, founder and director of Philadelphia's "The Paul Green School of Rock Music" wants to Give You the Gift of Rock! And how. What started as music lessons for 17 young people at his apartment every week is now an after school program with a faculty and over 120 9-17-year-old students enrolled. In "Rock School", filmmaker Don Argott explores the dynamics and accomplishments of this unusual school through interviews, concerts, and daily activities with Paul Green and a handful of the students. Paul Green's overbearing, manic personality drives this film and bears the responsibility for keeping the audience hooked. His goals for his students are to "get them as good as possible" and to "get them on stage in front of as many people" as possible. But his methods are unconventional and startling at first. Paul is a foul-mouthed, elitist, egomaniac. He berates the students, makes fun of them, and challenges them...with surprisingly good results.

Don Argott has chosen an eclectic group of students to follow, from beginning children to expert young adults. We get a picture of how the school operates and to what ends through interviews with students, parents, and with Paul. Tucker and Asa Collins are 9-year-old twins who struggle to learn drums and guitar and perform Black Sabbath. Madi Diaz-Svalgard is a multi-talented musician and vocalist always at odds with Paul. Teenagers Julie and Eric Slick seem unruffled by Paul's methods and influenced by his ideas. Will O'Conner is a morose young man, consumed with self-pity, with no apparent musical talent, but he acts as a kind of intellectual foil to Paul. The school's star pupil is 12-year-old guitarist C.J. Tywoniak, who is just plain extraordinary. Rock School's most accomplished musicians specialize in Frank Zappa, and they were invited to play the 2003 "Zappa Now" (Zappanale) festival in Bad Doberon, Germany. The film follows them there, and we get to see them play, which is a treat.

Some might be put off by Paul Green's methods, but they're as much the essence of "The Paul Green School of Rock Music" as the music is. At least Paul could never be accused of patronizing his students. He might not be an interesting character if he were not so self-aware. "My ego's as big as the universe," he says. "So if I couldn't be the best guitar player, I invented something new so I could be the best at it." This film shows us how "The Paul Green School of Rock Music" strives to be the best rock school and to produce the best musicians. Paul Green is going to get his name in "Rolling Stone" magazine one way or another. If it seems like there isn't enough footage of the students playing in this film, it is because the filmmakers could not get or could not afford the rights to many songs. Films shot with handheld DV cameras can be a grating at times, and I would have liked to see more commentary from the school's faculty, but "Rock School" is an engaging look at some talented young musicians and their manic mentor.

The DVD (Columbia/Tristar 2005): Bonus features include 20 deleted scenes, a theatrical trailer (2 minutes), and an audio commentary with director/cinematographer Don Argott, producer Sheena Joyce, and editor Demian Fenton. Argott, Joyce, and Fenton discuss their editing decisions, the film's structure, their shooting style, their experiences filming, and talk about the people in the film. Their enthusiasm for the music and the project really come through in the commentary. Subtitles for the film are available in English.

So says Rock School founder and tyrannical teacher Paul Green, and for the rest of this documentary we are left to determine just which part of that statement we think is more true. Thankfully, the filmmakers help us by providing plenty of evidentiary "exhibits" on both sides of the argument, from which we the audience/jurors can make a final judgment.

And to his credit and/or detriment, Paul Green himself has certainly not suppressed any of the evidence. Early on, he states: "As this movie will show, I'm not that good at editing myself when people with pens and recording devices are around," in what is simultaneously a nice moment of self-awareness as well as The Understatement of the Year.

Because by this point in the film, we've already seen him tell a demure teenaged girl that she looks like "a future heroin addict," another girl that if she messes up he'll "punch her in the face" and repeatedly ask a young boy if he "loves Satan" (the correct answer apparently being "yes"). And we're not even halfway through the picture yet!

Thus, when early on we meet a frail, sickly student who has already by his own admission attempted suicide many times and describes himself as "barely alive," one can't help but think, "Should someone as seemingly unbalanced as Paul Green really be this much of an influence on children, let alone fragile kids like this one?"

Such is the set up and narrative tension of the film, and I found it to be quite compelling and even somewhat suspenseful. We wonder what will happen to some of these kids as they prepare for a big gig in Germany playing the complex music of Frank Zappa.

A lot has been made of Paul's behavior in reviews of the film (and rightfully so); frankly, the fact that he uses the f word in front of nine year olds is the least of the problems. Even worse, to me, is that he injects toxic mini-doses of sexism and homophobia into his teachings. He tells guitarist CJ, when playing, to not "look at your fingers - only girls look at their fingers." And, in one of the deleted scenes featured on the DVD, he tells a girl singing a George Michael song to pretend, "Your dreams have come true - you have boobies now. And now you can sleep with straight men, which is what you like to do anyway." Lovely.

Cataclysmic behavioral indiscretions aside, what made Paul's behavior fascinating for me was trying to figure out his motivation - is he like the frustrated ex-athlete dad berating his kid at Little League, desperate to vicariously recapture or transcend former glory? Or does he genuinely care about these kids?

When he says, "my only interest in these kids is to get them to be as good as possible and then to get them in front of as many people as possible," does he want that for them or for him? And do the kids themselves come out better or worse from having been exposed to his influence and this experience?

Though some my answers to those questions have been made apparent in this review, I think what proves this to be a well-made documentary is the fact that I have read such wide-ranging opinions of the man and his methods in the reviews of this film. And to me, that indicates that the filmmakers have truly struck a skillful balance in their portrayal of Paul, his school and his students. It's a compelling yet unbiased presentation of facts and scenes, from which many conclusions can be drawn.

So strap yourself in for this sometimes-turbulent ride, and have fun making up your own mind.

I go to the Paul Green School of Rock NYC, and this movie pretty accuratley shows what it's like going there. Paul may not be the most self-controlled person around, but it's impossible not to like him. He's really great and pushes kid to the extent of their talent, with amazing results. Everyone should know a Paul Green in their lifetime, and more teachers should be like this.

This is a great, low budget, real life triumphant story about music, intensity, and the best of the human spirit. It is just the right length to feel good and then go to your favorite bar to hear some live music. Everyone should know a Paul Green once in their lives, and the kids should just not be missed.

I was disappointed in this documentary. The school is an interesting place and the head teacher is unusual and all that, but nothing actually happens over the course of the movie. There's no sense of movement. In fact, you could show most of this movie out of sequence and it would be impossible for the viewer to know, because nothing develops or changes throughout the course of the movie. So, after the first 40 minutes, I felt like, "Okay, I get it. This teacher is verbally abusive, but he's also really into teaching and cares a lot about his kids and about rock 'n roll. Got it. But... so what?"

The best documentaries are just as compelling (and often more so) as more conventional dramas and thrillers. They tell stories. "Rock School" doesn't really have a story to tell, though. And that makes it kind of boring after a while.

It was really cute at first seeing little kids say things like "AC/DC is easy," and then SHOWING us AC/DC is easy (not for me, a non-musician). And Paul Green seemed cool at first, until he kept making references like "Rock n Roll comes from Satan." I'm not a religious nut myself, and I don't have any kids of my own, but his constant talk of Satan in the first 30-45 minutes made me feel a little ill at ease with the doc. Maybe if he'd been talking to the camera I'd've been like, "Okay, the guy's entitled to his own ideals," but I didn't like that he was pushing "hot women and rock n roll come from Satan" on such young kids (even though he said it in a light, maybe joking manner, it seemed like something you'd joke about with the older teens, not the pre-teens and below-tens). I think "rock school" is a great idea, a good way to reach kids and give them a way to express themselves, but any future schools need better, unbiased teachers than this guy. Maybe he really was doing it "only for the movie," but I felt it was just too much.

The wailing of an electric guitar solo opens the documentary Rock School, and it's a sound that could easily be coming from the likes of Jimi Hendrix or Pete Townshend.

As the camera pans upward and reveals a 12 year old boy, CJ, making such sweet sounds on his guitar, it is indeed an awe inspiring moment.

What's even more curious is that this young musician is the creation of a balding, tubby Frank Zappa afficionado, who gave up his own musical aspirations so he could teach kids how to rock.

Paul Green is not just a music teacher. He's a rock music teacher.

From humble beginnings teaching kids guitar in his garage, Green is now the head of the Paul Green School of Rock in Philadelphia.

Director of Rock School, Don Argott, takes us into the hallowed halls of this humble school to reveal Green as a perfectionist, obsessed with rock music and more than happy to pass this obsession on to his students.

Aged between 10 and 17 his students vary from a suicidal misfit and a Quaker with a panache for rapping to a young man not yet in his teens who could rival the world's guitar legends.

When Green is invited to Germany's Zappanale festival, featuring all things Frank Zappa, he begins the enormous task of teaching a few lucky students to replicate Zappa's complex music. It's an emotional ride for many as Green's over the top personality and unorthodox teaching methods ruffle feathers.

The relationship that Green has with his students is often insightful as he pushes them emotionally and threatens them physically in an effort to improve their performances. You can't help but laugh out loud as Green asks a young boy behind a drum set whether or not he loves Satan, in an attempt to find the 'rock musician' within.

With many hilarious moments between teacher and student, Rock School spends a lot of time treading the fine line between documentary and parody, a la Spinal Tap. However when Green's students take to the stage at the Zappanale nobody is laughing. Devoted fans of Zappa watch with visible amazement.

Green's enthusiasm for both the students and music in general is completely infectious, and holds this film together to create a genuine and often moving experience.

Whether you are a lover of rock or not, this is a film that will inspire.

Maybe it was just the shock of watching a grown man yell things like "that was f***ing pathetic!" and "dont f***ing make mistakes!" at nine year olds that turned me off about this movie, or maybe it was just bad.