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Variety Reviews... || ||

REVIEW: Mesmerizing 'Teenage' Rebels Against Traditional Documentary Form

REVIEW: Mesmerizing 'Teenage' Rebels Against Traditional Documentary Form

It’s hard to reconcile, considering the degree to which adolescents now dominate popular culture, but the idea of the teenager is a uniquely 20th-century invention, born out of advances in psychological theory, changes in child-labor laws and a boom in leisure-time activities for the under-20 set. A feat of both editing and blurring-of-the-edges nonfiction technique, Matt Wolf’s mesmerizing, scrapbook-style Teenage conveys the transition in how the world perceived this emerging in-between stage via a series of first-person portraits of exceptional individuals set amid a whirlwind of vintage footage. Ironically, the demo in question seems least likely to appreciate the pic’s arty, innovative approach. more »

The Movieline Interview || ||

INTERVIEW: 'Teenage' Filmmakers Matt Wolf & Jon Savage Make A Doc That Swings

INTERVIEW: 'Teenage' Filmmakers Matt Wolf & Jon Savage Make A Doc That Swings

Teenage is as rebellious a film as the territory it covers. Based on punk author Jon Savage's 2007 book Teenage: The Creation of Youth Culture 1875-1945, Matt Wolf's documentary eschews the talking heads and Chyroned dates that dominate the genre to immerse the moviegoer in a visually and aurally sumptuous history lesson. more »