Approaching the Elephant

Name: Approaching the Elephant
Genre: Documentary
Released: February 20, 2015
Duration: 89 min
Rating: 82

2015

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Universal acclaim based on 7 Critic Reviews

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Movie Details & Credits

Wilder Films | Release Date: February 20, 2015 | Not Rated

Summary: Year one for Lucy, Jiovanni and director Alexander at the Teddy McArdle Free School in Little Falls, New Jersey, where classes are voluntary and rules are created by democratic vote. Wilder is there from the beginning, observing an indelible cast of outspoken young personalities as they form relationships, explore their surroundings andYear one for Lucy, Jiovanni and director Alexander at the Teddy McArdle Free School in Little Falls, New Jersey, where classes are voluntary and rules are created by democratic vote. Wilder is there from the beginning, observing an indelible cast of outspoken young personalities as they form relationships, explore their surroundings and intensely debate rule violations, until it all comes to a head.… Expand

Director: Amanda Wilder

Genre(s): Documentary

Rating: Not Rated

Runtime: 89 min

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Critic Reviews

A.A. Dowd

Feb 18, 2015

The footage, edited by Actress director Robert Greene, coheres into what feels like one long, chaotic school day. You can practically feel the pulse of grown-up veins, the fraying of last nerves. Read full review

Calum Marsh

Feb 17, 2015

The faults and merits of the free-school movement are elucidated with a steely, journalistic rigor. More surprising is that this candid glimpse plays as exhilarating drama. Read full review

Christopher Gray

Feb 17, 2015

The film's 90 minutes are a disorienting cyclone of destructive incidents and propulsive energy. Read full review

RogerEbert.com Matt Zoller Seitz

Feb 25, 2015

The movie is significant as a movie: it's intelligent, sensitive and expertly made. But it's also significant because of its ability to provoke introspection and arguments. In its deceptively modest way, it's as much a Rorschach test as "American Sniper." Everybody who sees it will draw a different picture of the elephant. Read full review

Scott Tobias

Feb 17, 2015

Much of the observational brilliance of Approaching The Elephant comes from how closely form relates to content: Out of chaos comes order, both at Teddy McArdle and in the film, which brings the personalities and conflicts into sharper focus as it goes along. Read full review

Richard Brody

Feb 17, 2015

Amanda Rose Wilder’s nuanced and passionate documentary, about the first year of a “free” elementary school in New Jersey, reveals the glories and the limitations of unstructured classrooms and observational filmmaking alike. Read full review

Nicolas Rapold

Feb 19, 2015

Ms. Wilder, in her debut feature, riskily opts to leave much of the children’s educational activity fairly vague. Which gives it one more thing in common with school: You need to pay attention. Read full review

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