Riverrun 2: The Wonder Year

I really wish that i could skip this but... I am trying to work an analysis of all the films that I saw at the Riverrun Film Festival. I promised myself I would do it. Slow and steady manages to place respectably in the race..

My wish to skip comes from the fact that I feel that my brother did a great job writing about this film. Check it out here.
*cracks knuckles*

THE WONDER YEAR TRAILER from Pricefilms
Director: Kenneth Price
Genre: Documentary
Rating: 7.5/10

The Wonder Year is a documentary by Kenneth Price about the the talented hip hop producer/Duke University Professor/avid tweeter 9th wonder. Using the footage that Price had gathered over the course of a year he manages to create a cohesive film. The film is broken up into sections (months) that help guide the audience.

What makes this film work is that Price doesn't make himself the "eye" of the film. All of the information that he wants to tell the audience is written out on the screen. No voice-over. No exaggerated camera shakes to remind you that your watching someone watch someone. So the film feels home-ish the film even has this warm sepia-ish tone to it. It kind of looks the way lemon mango tea smells. The film feels like 9th wonder is guiding you through his old house, town, friends, and work. All in all, if you take nothing else from this film one thing you learn is that there is a large amount of people who respect him. From meeting him myself, he's a hard man not to like.

From the film -slash- interview my brother did with 9th Wonder I learned  three things.

1. You can (easily) use rap music way to teach historical events. This is the most obvious thing, but it's not something we see people do. We see people use rap music to talk about poetry, to talk about cultural things, or the business of music but never a way to trace different events. I thought that was cool.
2. We aren't used to seeing producers work. One of the most universally loved sections in this film is when we see 9th making beats. I think people have this idea that what these people do is easy but it's not. It takes an incredible ear and that was one thing everyone got from watching the film.
3. Rap music and generational divide. After coming home from my grandmother's house I talked to my brother about our talented but vigorously anti-rap music relatives. He mentioned that they says things like "This whole hip-hip generation is blah blah blah" They are disregarding his entire generation. 9th mention in the film and the interview that comments like that are creating this large generational gap. Younger people says " You are too old to understand." and the older generation says "You're too young to know good music."

"And that’s the thing about the generational divide. I think hip-hop can really change that to make both a kid and an adult understand [one another]. I look at most concerts on TV, a Mötley Crüe concert, you’ll see a granddad or a dad and a son. At a Rolling Stones concert, you’ll see a granddad, a son, and a 14-year-old, all watching Mick Jagger. Why can’t we have that for A Tribe Called Quest, man? Only a few people in our culture we can do that with. And there needs to be more.” -9th Wonder 

 I had a few tiny questions about 9th Wonder's life but they are sort of trivial. I think this is a very cool film. If this film happens to be screened near you I highly suggest that you go see it.

You may also like...

Riverrun Film Festival Website

The Wonder Year Website

Twitter Accounts...
9th Wonder
Kenneth Price
Riverrun Film Festival

Articles.....
My brother's column on the film...The Wonder Year: Inspiring Soul
A long long long time ago I did a post about how hip hop culture/rap music is being used in commericals.