MIFF NOTES: At Berkeley (2013, Dir. Frederick Wiseman)

I've been to the University of California at Berkeley. Thanks to Mr. Wiseman, that is. Four hours spent slipping into room after room, listening in to lectures on supernova theory, Donne's poetry, Theroux's pond. Yawning over finance meetings. Sitting in on student catch-all protests. Evaluating a PhD student tweaking his subject's robotic legs.

Wiseman's scope is impressive, though in some ways it works against the film. Compared to his more recent effort, a portrait of London's National Gallery, At Berkeley feels less focussed,  slightly more repetitive. That's not to detract too much from Wiseman's impeccable film, and probably only apparent given I caught this film so hard upon the last.

Wiseman's access all areas approach provides a telling snap-shot of the tertiary education sector the world over. The interplay between the need to raise capital and the concept of free education is an obvious theme, and one that most everyone within the film agrees on, though it does not always seem that way from the inside. When attacking the issues at hand, the differing levels of experience between the faculty and the student body, and how they engage these concepts to the real world, makes for fascinating viewing.

★★★★

Trailer:

Disclaimer: Due to excessive work and excessive film going, MIFF posts are going to be pretty sketchy this year. I'll come back to some of the better ones and write them up proper-like if the mood takes.