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My Old School (2022 film)
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Wikipedia article
'My Old School' is a 2022 documentary directed by Jono McLeod on the subject of the Brandon Lee scandal. In 1995, it was discovered that "Brandon Lee", who had a year earlier enrolled as a fifth-year student at Bearsden Academy secondary school in Bearsden, Scotland, had actually been a 30-year-old former student, Brian MacKinnon, posing as a 17-year-old. The story attracted widespread and sensational news coverage at the time.
McLeod, the film's director, was one of MacKinnon's peers at Bearsden academy. The story of MacKinnon's time at Bearsden and his unmasking are told through a combination of present-day interviews with MacKinnon's classmates and teachers, cartoon recreations, and archival footage. MacKinnon agreed to be interviewed for the film, but did not wish to appear on camera, so the actor Alan Cumming appears as an avatar for MacKinnon, lip syncing to the audio of his interviews.
The film premiered virtually in January at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival.
Synopsis
'My Old School' tells the story of MacKinnon's time at Bearsden and subsequent outing and media coverage in chronological order. MacKinnon's deception is not revealed until around halfway through the film, at the point in the story at which MacKinnon's peers discover it, effectively positioning the audience in their point of view. The film also withholds any contemporary photographs or footage of MacKinnon before this point.
McLeod interviewed a number of MacKinnon's classmates and teachers, often in pairs, and they, along with MacKinnon himself, embodied by Alan Cumming, provide much of the film's narration. Interviews were conducted on sets designed to resemble the classrooms of Bearsden (the actual schoolhouse having been demolished years earlier).
The story is also told via cartoon recreations voiced by professional voice actors, including the Scottish actresses Clare Grogan and Lulu. The visual style of these cartoon sequences has been compared by a number of commentators to the animated sitcom 'Daria', which aired on MTV between 1997 and 2002. These cartoons sequences are scored with contemporary pop music.
It also included a clip of the school production of 'South Pacific', where he played Lieutenant Cable, ironically shown singing "Younger Than Springtime". One point which people may have found disturbing was when he had a prolonged kiss with his 16-year-old co-star.
Release
Before its premiere, 'My Old School' was picked up for worldwide release by Dogwoof, a British film distributor specializing in documentaries. It premiered virtually in January at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival. It was subsequently screened at a number of other 2022 film festivals, including:
* the Dublin International Film Festival
* the Glasgow Film Festival
* the Belgian film festival Docville
* Toronto's Hot Docs documentary film festival
It was picked up by distributor Magnolia Pictures for a July 22 North American release.
Reception
Critical response
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 92% based on 62 reviews, with an average rating of 7.50/10.References
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