RSS
Home
DVD review- Resolved (2007)
Print
Email
RSS
Subscribe
Louis Blackwell makes his point in Resolved.
Jerry Seinfeld once quipped, "According to most studies, people's number one fear is public speaking. Number two is death...This means to the average person, if you go to a funeral, you're better off in the casket than doing the eulogy." This fact is repeated (minus the punchline) within the first few minutes of Resolved, a 2007 documentary recently released on dvd, which follows two pairs of students who ranked amongst the best high school debaters in the country.
Resolved begins by introducing viewers to the current state of high school debate, which is influenced by a concept known as The Spread. This is a way of debating where students speak much faster in order to fit more arguments into their speeches, especially important since debates are timed. As the film details, this way of debating focuses less on eloquence and persuasion while putting much more emphasis on information and research. This method also created a jargon all its own, made the students much more difficult to understand (most of these kids sound like the Micro Machines Man on amphetamines), and eventually dwindled the audience numbers for debates.
Sam Iola and Matt Andrews are the first debaters we meet, two white students who attend the Texan public school Highland Park. Sam is a senior, ranked not only the highest in his school but in the top half percent of all debaters. He's paired with Matt, a sophomore nicknamed "The Boy" (due to his young age), who is considered something of a prodigy among these debaters. These two are afforded the opportunity to participate in the Tournament of Champions, where the best debaters in the country compete yearly. It's a significant event for Sam, being that this is his last year as he's a senior, and it's also something of a milestone for Matt, since he's younger than everyone else who is in the competition.
We also meet Richard Funches and Louis Blackwell, two black students who attend Jordan High School, an inner city public school in Los Angeles. These two attempt to take the art of debate to a new level by challenging the current state of it. They seek to go back to the way debate was before The Spread changed it, often citing the philosopher Paulo Freire, who argued against the "banking" concept of learning (wherein the student was considered an empty account to be filled with information by their teacher). Richard and Louis argue that the Spread-influenced form of debate is racist and inherently exclusive, and they also theorize that most debaters have no real world connection to the arguments they make; however, Richard and Louis do employ the very methods they criticize in order to make their points, possibly rendering their arguments inconsistent to the judges of the competitions.
Resolved is a powerful and informative movie. By following both pairs of students as they compete, the film creates a palpable tension rarely found in most documentaries. This combination of fact and conflict makes Resolved comparable to the excellent 2002 film Spellbound, which followed students competing in the National Spelling Bee. Resolved makes you care about these kids and their compelling extracurricular activities. Highly recommended for fans of documentaries, or anyone looking to learn more about debate.
DVD features include interviews with cast members, two deleted scenes, and the film's trailer.
For more information: Resolved
Rent it from Netflix: Resolved
Related Articles:
Comments
