Institute History
Description
When two sincere high-schoolers turn their haphazard video camera on charmingly geeky classmates, the result is High School Record, a dryly hilarious, minimalist account of the wacky trials and wobbly triumphs of pubescence.
Vaginal anatomy, donut-shaped Mohawks, and an inappropriate drama teacher are just a few of the things the pack of seniors must contend with while under the magnifying glass. Alternating between deadpan earnestness and sweet offhandedness, feminist tough-girl Sabrina, gangly nerd-boy Caleb, vacant cool-boy Eddy, and pretty rich-girl Erin navigate juvenile and adult situations like colts finding their legs. Cheating, grade-adjusting heists, and crappy after-school jobs are all in a day's work—but so are sex in the science lab, serious relationship talks, and bucking conventional standards of beauty. The fact that their classmates' ever-present lens is as innocent and nonjudgmental as they are, even when tracking the most bizarre situations, is what gives the film its ironic zing. Somehow the lines between cool and nerdy—the stuff of standard high school movie conflict—are irrelevant in this unorthodox teen world.
First-timer Ben Wolfinsohn artfully employs a peppy art-rock score to lend the production a tenderly satirical glow. His actors, hailing from bands in Los Angeles's underground music scene, deliver unpretentious, wonderfully dorky performances that will have you laughing out loud, falling in love, and thanking your lucky stars you're no longer 17.