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Chain Camera

Play trailer Poster for Chain Camera 2001 1h 29m Documentary Play Trailer Watchlist
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67% Tomatometer 15 Reviews 18% Popcornmeter 250+ Ratings
Documentary filmmaker Kirby Dick gave small portable video cameras to 10 students at John Marshall High School in the upper-middle-class Los Feliz section of Los Angeles, instructing them to film their lives extensively for one week and then pass the cameras on to other students. Out of the hundreds of hours of footage that the students shot of themselves, their friends and their families, Dick selected 16 students' work to make this thematically varied feature.

Critics Reviews

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John Leonard New York Magazine/Vulture Kirby Dick... edited 700 hours down into sixteen self-portraits of mostly anxious teenagers, a sort of United Nations of unhappiness, thinking out loud about fathers, sex, race, politics, drugs, and music. Feb 3, 2018 Full Review John Petrakis Chicago Tribune Absorbing in places, but considering the large and diverse pool the filmmakers had to draw from, it's a surprisingly repetitive and predictable collection of big-city sagas. Rated: 2/4 Aug 29, 2002 Full Review Steven Rea Philadelphia Inquirer A candid, compelling documentary. Feb 7, 2002 Full Review Mark Halverson Sacramento News & Review Rated: 3/5 Aug 7, 2008 Full Review Film Threat Rated: 4/5 Dec 6, 2005 Full Review Emanuel Levy EmanuelLevy.Com Rated: 2/5 Jul 4, 2005 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Audience Member Chain Camera is a video portrait of urban youth at a Los Angeles High School; and after watching the documentary I further understand what motivates many teachers in the urban enviornment to leave the profession after a few short years. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/10/23 Full Review Audience Member This film is mildly interesting if watched with lots of fast-forwarding. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 01/12/23 Full Review Audience Member While I thought this was an interesting look into the lives of high schoolers in LA I didn't think it was a great flick. It is disturbing to see most of these kids acting the way they were knowing that people would be viewing these videos. Candid talk about sex, drugs, and crime shocked me as none of these kids were even 18. We even see two of the folks doing drugs in the film. To me it seems as if most of the kids have already given up and resigned themselves to live out life with the idea that they can do no better than where they find themselves now. I really hope my kids don't fall into that trap as well. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 02/24/23 Full Review Audience Member Well done documentary, but it just made me sad to see the lack of any innocence in these high school students. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/26/23 Full Review Audience Member i didn't expect it to be this funny! interesting stuff. probably the weakest points being that he tries to illustrate all the issues going on and there's no so much depth. still, i really like how some of the people seemed twats at first but then you realise they leave in pretty miserable situations... also good to see least expected aspect of modern teenage psychology like chastity... Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/02/23 Full Review Audience Member Not bad, didn't really give much info on each student. I would have liked to have see a little more in depth. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/14/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Chain Camera

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Movie Info

Synopsis Documentary filmmaker Kirby Dick gave small portable video cameras to 10 students at John Marshall High School in the upper-middle-class Los Feliz section of Los Angeles, instructing them to film their lives extensively for one week and then pass the cameras on to other students. Out of the hundreds of hours of footage that the students shot of themselves, their friends and their families, Dick selected 16 students' work to make this thematically varied feature.
Director
Kirby Dick
Producer
Dody Dorn, Eddie Schmidt
Genre
Documentary
Original Language
English
Release Date (Streaming)
Mar 5, 2016
Runtime
1h 29m