Clevercell Very disappointing...

Listonixio Fresh and Exciting

Bea Swanson This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

Isbel A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

cassar-1 The focus of the movie is Mrs Carey who seems to spend most of her time focusing on the behaviour of the students and and how that impinges on her forthcoming concert. She resorts to threats, even to the point of almost dismissing a student from the concert at the last minute. The students themselves are supremely talented, but nothing is ever good enough for the teachers. One teacher is a composer and insists the student reproduce the emotion he felt when he composed the piece but without giving the student any clues or guidelines. The director has very cleverly shown how students are harshly treated and how very talented students are given little or no gratitude by teachers who should know better. The great violin performance towards the end of the documentary illustrates how off the mark the teachers were at the start of the documentary.

timcolebatch contains spoilerThe first review in this section is such a Rant against Authority that it provokes me to write a rejoinder.This documentary will particularly interest lovers of classical music, because the film is full of it, and really good music too, edgy music from early 20th century composers (Ravel's string quartet, Vaughan Williams' Variation of a Theme of Thomas Tallis.It will particularly interest those who have an interest in how kids grow up, and acquire the discipline to achieve things that were once beyond their reach.And it will particularly interest those who are curious about how interventionist schools shape their students, and why the elite private schools of Australia, Britain and presumably other countries achieve such success in academic and artistic areas.MLC (Methodist Ladies College) is one of the elite girls' schools of Sydney, with expensive fees, a strong culture of achievement, and a policy to apply this to music. The annual school concert in the iconic Sydney Opera House = Mrs Carey's Concert = is one of the highlights of the school year, in which every student, musical or otherwise, interested or not, is obliged to take part.Chinese girls make up outsized part of the school's musical talent, and the film strikes a nice balance by focussing on two of them: one who is the school's outstanding violinist, Emily Sun, and another, Iris, who is the cool, defiant one, determined not to take part.Yes, the girls are pushed to achieve things, to play complex music that at first, and even close to concert night, seems beyond them. But they get swept up in it, push themselves, and they make it. You live it with them, and you share their excitement when the concert comes off.Reviewer 1 up above was aghast that this is achieved by a subtly authoritarian culture, where it is drummed into the girls that their music must come first in their lives. Well, whether it's football coaches or law firms or financial traders, that is how success is achieved, how promise is translated into achievement. That is why private schools are so good at what they do, and why these teenage girls, by the end of it, belong on the stage of the Sydney Opera House.

gregking4 This is not another of those films like Mr Holland's Opus in which a dedicated teacher transforms the lives of their disadvantaged students through music. Rather this is a fascinating documentary that takes us inside a private girl's school in Sydney and the music department, which holds a huge showcase concert at the Sydney Opera House every two years. Mrs Carey is the formidable head of the school's music department who believes in the power of music to transform the lives of her students and nourish the soul. She insists that all 1200 students participate in the concert. She is also something of a perfectionist and a demanding taskmaster, and the rehearsals are rigorous, the preparations are demanding. However, not all of her students are eager to participate, and this generates a frisson of tension that adds to the material. A major subplot that develops almost by chance sees two girls whose attitudes are changed dramatically through their involvement. One is Emily Sun, a troubled student who is starting to go off the rails behaviour-wise, until Mrs Carey nominates her to play solo violin on a difficult concerto. The personal pain of her private life eventually shapes her brilliant performance on the night. The other is Iris, a rude, surly, rebellious and disruptive student who is reluctant to get involved. Veteran documentary filmmaker Bob Connolly (Rats In The Ranks, etc) and his new collaborator Sophie Raymond have spent the better part of a year embedding themselves in the school and filming the preparation for the concert. Granted an unprecedented level of access, Connolly and his crew are unobtrusive observers who adopt a frank, fly-on-the-wall approach. The cameras follow the students and teachers as they rehearse and plan for the concert, and uncover a journey of self-discovery filled with passion, angst and the occasional conflict. They even manage to capture some moments of self-doubt on the part of Carey as the concert draws near. Connolly shot plenty of footage over the course of three years, and there is more than enough material to turn Mrs Carey's Concert into a fascinating three part television series, culminating in the concert itself. This is Connolly's first film since Facing The Music a decade ago, and is a tremendously inspiring and uplifting film.

Likes_Ninjas90 This is a documentary set in MLC High School, looking to record the preparation of the girls school concert, which is held every two years in the Sydney Opera House. The concert is organised by Mrs. Karen Carey. She's an experienced teacher who grew up in the country and believes in the opportunities that these events can hold for students. Her problem is convincing Chinese violinist Emily that she has the confidence to lead the orchestra. Emily lives with just her mother because her father died when she young. A number of the teachers suspect that she internalises her grief and encourage her to release it through her music. But Emily has been led astray at school and misses her music rehearsals. Mrs. Carey believes that if Emily takes on the role of orchestra leader it will be an opportunity to reform her. Meanwhile, Carey is also dealing with a group of students who don't want to participate in singing practice. One of the girls is Iris and she speaks for a minority in saying that they find the practices tedious and that they don't want to be there. I hope a lot of students watch this absorbing documentary. Some will be deterred by the music and the film's slow start. There are a few too many rehearsal scenes early on. Yet this does little to detract from the film's slowly developed strength: how much it makes you understand. There is an optimistic, human story here, as much as an institutional one. MLC looks like a great school. The students are thoughtful, intelligent and passionate. And their teachers are similar. They're confident in their knowledge but emotionally engaged with the students too. There's a proper sense of care and involvement shared by both parties on screen. But directors Bob Connolly and Sophie Raymond are frank about the school's issues too. There's the announcement that a number of students have been involved with skipping school, drinking and lying to their parents and teachers. The best documentaries are balanced in their subject matter. And Connolly finds this throughout the most personal and intimate stories too. In such a positive environment like this one there is great potential but equally, the risk of throwing it away for the good life. Mrs. Carey recognises this most imminently through the troubled Emily and we see why she's so intent on pushing her out of her comfort zone. She justifies it as preparation for the real world but also talks openly about how she herself grew up in the country, without music and without the opportunity. She also reflects on the change she has seen in her students when they rise to the occasion, building their confidence and self-image. But impressively, Connolly and his team have also captured the woman's flaws too, in particular, her vulnerability. She's internally conflicted by her own self-doubt, asking if all this time is worth it and there are also moments where students like Iris question Carey's drive towards conformity. Is the school really offering an opportunity if it's imposed on you? Arguably, the less visible the director and their influence on the screen are in a documentary, the more authentic the reality becomes. The lack of transparency or intrusion from Connolly here makes a lot of these conversations feel unrehearsed, more honest and powerful. As such, I found many of Mrs. Carey's confessions to be quite moving and understandable. One of the more abstract and optimistic ideas throughout the documentary is the notion of art as an expression of the self. This alone is a fascinating concept, visualised most elegantly in the film's stirring climatic concert. By building Emily's emotional upbringing so intimately early on, there's so much more at stake here than just one magnificent violin solo.