People between the ages of 13 and 19 have obviously always existed, the lifestyle of the teenager is commonly believed to have been invented in the 1950s with the popularisation of Rock ‘n Roll. In Matt Wolf’s idiosyncratic documentary and ‘living collage’, Teenage, he gives voice to accounts of what it was like for young people to grow up in the first half of the 20th century, using archive footage, unconventional voice-over and re-enactments. Inspired by Jon Savage’s book – Teenage: The Creation of Youth Culture 1875 – 1945 – and his idealisation of punk as “amateur aesthetics, anti-authoritarian politics, independent and alternative forms of distribution”, Wolf set about making this fascinatingly distinct documentary using English, American and German perspectives.
Through Joe Beshenkovsky, Teenage is a marvel of editing prowess. Very little of the footage is fresh or new, most of the material used has been meticulously sourced and reconstructed into a narrative that spans Flappers, Swings Kids, The Nazi Youth and Sub-Debs. The living collage blurb used in the press material is a perfect digest of what Matt Wolf’s film is. He uses home video, news footage, newspaper clippings and any other medium available to create snapshots of history. And where a medium wasn’t available he shot new footage with authentic period trappings, it’s a genuine challenge to notice the difference.
His style may elude some but on the power of message alone, there can be no doubting that Matt Wolf has set the ball rolling with the first vital documentary of 2014.
TEENAGE (2013)
It’d be nothing more than a glorified historical slideshow if it was the sound presentation. All of this historical contextualisation of youth is given a powerful angle through dramatic narration and a score from indie wunderkind Bradford Cox (Deerhunter). The more significant of the two is the dramatic narration, but before that, the score supports the ideology that he is using punk aesthetics in his historical film-making. Cox’s music is jagged and arrhythmic, just like the twitchy energy of those who have struggled to be respected, neither children nor adults. There are hipster overtones in Cox’s work within the music world, but as far as creating a mood there couldn’t be a more perfect fit.
Technically impressive and a clear product of dedication but the thing that makes this documentary pop on a level you can get invested in is the narration by Jena Malone, Ben Whishaw, Julia Hummer and Jessie Usher. Through their delivery, they paint a picture that is shocking, enduring and entertaining. The shocking quality of the documentary is the most noteworthy, the slave labour British Kids were subjected to and how German boys were sent to their deaths in the First World War, archive footage and dramatic narration give these stories untold power. Still, that is weak in comparison to the coverage of the Nazi Youth Girl. Julia Hummer talks about how Hitler understood teenagers and how people were attracted to that empathy. To see the beginnings of one of the most horrific war criminals of all time talked about with such warmth is a victory for the objectivity of the documentary form.
Through accounts of social movements, rebellions, war and poverty, Wolf concludes that without teenagers there could be no evolution as no-one characterizes the hunger and disaffection with more passionate honesty as teenagers. Through the film, it becomes plain as day that those people believe teenagers formed in the 50s are ignoring decades if not centuries of human experience. His style may elude some but on the power of message alone, there can be no doubting that Matt Wolf has set the ball rolling with the first vital documentary of 2014.
TEENAGE (2013) IS AVAILABLE TO WATCH ON VOD
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