High School

Wiseman shot his second film HIGH SCHOOL at Northeast High School in Philadelphia. We see students arriving in the morning, lessons in classrooms, a fashion show, sports, and conversations between parents and school administrators. The institution of school stands here for an educational system in which students are taught to be obedient and passive. HIGH SCHOOL is an "essay on emptiness" (Joseph Featherstone), which shows the alienation of youth against the backdrop of the Vietnam War. Individuality is to be avoided and – for its good – one should obediently assimilate into society. There is nothing that epitomizes this more clearly than the school building, which is more akin to a factory than a school in its anonymity and architecture. (hb)