The U.S. Government commissioned this and this is what Greaves gives them. What a baller. My admiration for Greaves grows with every project I see — big or budget, across eras and mediums. The man was a damned public utility. He has become a personal hero. What a dream it would be to curate a Blu-ray set of his work. The footage here is all fine grain 16mm b&w and absolutely preeminent "direct cinema." A lot of random, raw, harsh stuff captured. The voice-over is doing something else, though, and wraps the entire thing into an outré U.S. Government social problem PSA. Very serious and omniscient, and then poetic as hell and hopeful. It's vérité presented in the form of a classroom film.
