We saw this movie last week in DC. It was excellent and I highly recommend it. The documentary is a well-balanced portrait of a leader (the Ballou Band director, Darrell Watson) and of the kids (rising above their environment to be a part of something "bigger"). And throughout the movie there is the theme that the band is truly a family, there to support each other and help each other work hard/achieve.
We had a lot of post-movie discussion in our group after this movie, which I think is an objective of documentaries - so the film's director absolutely succeeded in this respect.
There are commentaries throughout from some local DC figures on the importance of the band. I thought it distracted from the film a bit. I was much more interested in Mr. Watson, his staff and of course, the kids. Would have been nice to have commentary at the end, updating the viewers on what the graduating kids are now "up to". However, perhaps there is power in letting the viewers speculate.
We had a lot of post-movie discussion in our group after this movie, which I think is an objective of documentaries - so the film's director absolutely succeeded in this respect.
There are commentaries throughout from some local DC figures on the importance of the band. I thought it distracted from the film a bit. I was much more interested in Mr. Watson, his staff and of course, the kids. Would have been nice to have commentary at the end, updating the viewers on what the graduating kids are now "up to". However, perhaps there is power in letting the viewers speculate.
