American Independent and Frederick Wiseman series showcase talent

Webster University's film series continues over the next months with noteworthy, classic American independent cinema on Tuesday evenings and a retrospective of seventeen Frederick Wiseman documentaries, all restored, on Thursday evenings. Kicking off the indie celebration is Barbara Loden's 1970 "Wanda," which she wrote, directed, and stars in. First up for the Wiseman series is his 1968 "High School."

Tuesday, February 4, "Wanda" focuses entirely without vanity on the title woman. In eastern Pennsylvania, an apparently depressed, disenchanted, alcoholic wife leaves her husband, accepts a divorce, and relinquishes care of her children. Thereafter, after drifting across a coal field (a telling metaphor), the story tails Wanda through subsequent, distressing events including brief attachments to abusive, sexually exploitive men.

In her formidable, atypical approach, Loden presents a stunning, semi-autobiographical character study, often improvised and always surprising in her rejection of Hollywood formulaic dramas. In an American Film Institute interview, she describes this as, "a sort of passive, wandering around, passing from one person to another, no direction . . I think a lot of people are that way. And not just women, but men too." Loden explores this zeitgeist in unparalleled ways, often uncomfortable but always honest.

Documentarian Frederick Wiseman also hews to direct, authentic representation, though very different from "Wanda." Set in Philadelphia's urban Northeast High School, Wiseman, known for his unintrusive approach, lets subjects reveal themselves without interpretive, voiceover narration. He says he hopes, in his dramatic narratives, to give viewers sufficient information to feel present and then make up their own minds.

Here, through a selection of educational interactions, Wiseman stitches together teachers lecturing and guiding students. Lessons include Simon & Garfunkel's 1966 "The Dangling Conversation" used as a poetry example, a French class, separate groups of male and female students for sex education, a gym class, music, philosophy, typing, and a reading of "Casey at the Bat." Interspersed, rather than the administrators or teachers, students take center stage, disputing detention, discussing college choices with parents weighing in, and revealing their attention or lack thereof in reaction shots.

This being 1968, the most revealing, important issues highlighted include a survey of students' acceptance of Blacks and comments on the modern Jewish household with "women in charge," as one teacher says clearly unaware of the sexist nature of the comment. If there is an organizing principle to the overall documentary, it eludes me, though Wiseman's diverse range of topics illuminates his and, by contrast, our time period, 1968 of striking historical interest versus today's iteration.

Both are exceptional films. "Wanda" screens Tuesday, February 4, at 7:00 p.m. and "High School" screens Thursday, February 6, at 7:00 p.m. with an introduction by "The Take-Up's" film critic Joshua Ray. All events take place at Webster University’s Winifred Moore auditorium. For more information, you may visit the film series website.