Warrendale

Allan King's first feature documentary is a look inside a home for troubled kids, kids who tend to lash out. At Warrendale, they practice a bizarre "holding" technique where children are physically restrained by one or several adults, sometimes when there's no obvious need for it. I question the effectiveness of this... yes, it stops them from hurting themselves or others, but how do you NOT get panicky when someone much larger is clutching you in a vice grip, or even lying on top of you? When a child protests, the staff seems puzzled that they wouldn't want someone's hands and arms and legs all over them when they're trying to have an emotional moment. And the staff often seem to be giving mixed messages, trying to calm a child down while simultaneously screaming orders at them to express their feelings. I got the impression that these guys, although well-meaning, had little idea of what the hell they were doing, putting blind faith in various feelgood philosophies and the healing power of overbearing physical contact. But I must say that in general the kids seemed used to the treatment, and there are even a couple of apparent breakthroughs. At any rate, it's an intense, intimate piece of documentary filmmaking (or "actuality drama," as King calls it), with moments that can leave you gasping for breath, and genuinely moving scenes.

This Canadian documentary provides a candid peek inside an institute for emotionally disturbed children. The film opens on a striking crane shot of the facility viewed from up above as a car drives up, and as the film cuts inside, it is as if we are entering as guests. The camera-work is surprisingly intimate throughout, getting in close and doing more than just observing during the physical outburst scenes. This is, however, an observational fly-on-the-wall documentary, and as such we never see the documentarians interact with their subjects and there are no interviews or voice-over. This has the advantage of it leaving it up to us to pass judgment on whether the procedures at hand are effective. The disadvantage is the lack of background information, and it is a tad hard to have an opinion on what is going on when one does not know what the kids were like before coming to the institute or what traumatised them in the first place. Whatever the case, the film leaves an indelible impact. There is a section where a boy being tucked into bed constantly glances at the camera, but for the most part, the documentary crew remain invisible. It is hard not to wonder whether (for safety reasons) the crew should have intervened when one boy climbs on top of a giant cupboard, but the fact that the film is layered enough to evoke such questions with its observational format is something in itself.

Allan King somehow convinced the folks who ran the Warrendale mental health center (outside Toronto) to allow him and his crew to come there and film the staff and residents. Considering that the residents were severely emotionally disturbed children, this is a very unusual film and I was surprised they got permission! What you see is a small period of time during which you see several really messed up kids screaming, yelling, cursing and losing control--all while being kept in therapeutic holds by the long-suffering staff. What also makes the film unusual is that it has no narration and no introduction. It also wasn't edited to eliminate all the rough language (especially in the 1960s)...and as a result, the Canadian Broadcast System refused to air the documentary on television, though it was later showed in select theaters.

This isn't the sort of film that most will enjoy--that is clear. It is reasonably well made and some folks see it as a classic. As for me, my reaction is a bit different as it reminds me of my job working in a children's psychiatric facility back in the mid-1980s. While we did use therapeutic holds to restrain the children when they were violent, we did NOT stay up in the kids' faces demanding they have some emotional breakthrough. We also (wisely) segregated teen boys and girls! I can only assume that is because over time, the methods used at Warrendale were found to be less than totally effective. However there is a serious problem--no one really is clear on WHY Warrendale was closed around the same time the film was made. Also there is very contradictory information on the internet about the psychologist who ran the place---some practically see him as a saint and others as the Devil himself. If you love clarity, this is NOT a film to watch!! Worth seeing and mildly interesting...but with no follow-up you have no idea if any of this is effective or had any lasting benefit. Technically speaking, the film is reasonably well made....but it's also not particularly pleasant or most folks' idea of a fun documentary!

Allan King's "Warrendale" is an example of an actuality film, a type of cinema verite: no interviews or narration, just the raw footage. The focus is a mental health center populated by emotionally disturbed children. The children's profanity stopped the documentary from getting shown on the CBC initially, but it got shown at film festivals.

Having never been inside one of these places myself, I can only say that this is some of the most intense footage that I've ever seen. Hats off to the people who put up with this stuff every day! Apparently the facility was considered innovative initially, but soon drew controversy and got shut down. I don't know what became of Martin Fischer or the children treated there.

Anyway, it's not a production that you'll forget any time soon. Not at all a piece for the fainthearted, but worth seeing if you're interested in health-themed productions.