The Emmys, especially the 15-year-old Clive Owen’s victory as the youngest winner, brings into focus last year’s game-changer, Adolescence into focus again.
Like the entire civilization, I too loved Adolescence. It is ravishing in conception and daring in execution. It compels us to think about the quality of our lives, as a 13-year old boy stands accused of murdering a female classmate.
Beyond the question of juvenile crime, there is the other, far more crucial question: do parents know their children well even if they are attentive and dutiful, attending all PTA meetings, playing football with their kids, having regular heart-to-hearts, etc?
In fact, the last thing the murder accused boy’s father reprimands himself for is not knowing enough about his son.
But then, what is enough? Adolescence creeps into the innermost recesses of the parent-child relationship with a visceral wisdom. The first episode where the cops break into the Millers’ residence to arrest 13-year old Jamie Miller (Owen Cooper, in his startling debut) had me watching open-mouthed: the entire episode of arrest, travel to the police station, preparation for questioning, and questioning has been done in one single unbroken tense shot.
Very impressive! Director Philip Barantini is no stranger to the one-shot style of filmmaking. His earlier film Boiling Point (which starred Stephen Graham who plays Jamie’s father in Adolescence) was also done as a one-shot film.
The audacious technique works wonderfully in Episode 1 and Episode 2 of Adolescence. In Episode 2, the investigating officers Luke Bascombe (Ashley Walters) and Misha Frank (Faye Marsay) visit Jamie’s school to gather evidence. The episode weaves in and out of the school corridors with celerity and urgency. But it doesn’t really capture the sweaty anxiety of the opening episode. The students come across more as branded brats rather than stranded adolescents.
The best performance in Episode 2 comes from Jo Hartley as an eager-to-please teacher, so anxious to help the investigators, it is heartbreaking. Strangely, the female investigator Misha is given far less prominence that the male Luke. Even when it is suggested that she has a traumatic relationship with schools, there is no explanation beyond a cursory mention.
The one-shot treatment also works well with Episode 3, where Jamie is quizzed by a child psychologist (Erin Doherty). The interface is not short of ominous undercurrents. But somehow the psychologist asking a 13-year old whether he has ‘touched’ women seems out of line. If the film is about online bullying then the psychologist’s line of thinking seems a bit of the same.
The one-shot technique is completely out of line in Episode 4, where we needed an emotional intimacy as Jamie’s family comes to terms with his crime. The crisscross helter skelter journey of the camera gets uncomfortable here, especially when, while travelling by car, Eddie, his wife and daughter receive a call from Jamie in prison saying he is turning his non-guilty plea to guilty.
Even if this happened the way it is shown—how far would they go to remain true and get a viewership?–Jamie and his father should have faced one another for this all-conclusive moment. The entire hysteria over the show’s conception and boldness seems overdone. Agreed, Adolescence is ground-breaking. But whose ground and how deep, is it really breaking?
That said, Adolescence has enough going on to be considered a landmark achievement in the crime-investigation genre. And actor co-writer Stephen Graham’s breakdown at the end will remain with us for all times to come.
