Off By Heart, BBC2 9pm, The Observer
An hour and a half long film about a children’s poetry competition? “Really, oh, great, thanks,” was my reaction on landing this preview. But – and this is an important but – this isn’t a precocious parent’s camcorder movie stretched to cover a culture-light Friday on the Beeb. This is an excellent film, which blows the cobwebs off dull old poetry and shows real children, who aren’t even famous, not just enjoying using words but getting caught up in their magic.
The daunting duration turns out to be a gift rather than a burden. As well as giving the poetry and its performance time to make an impact, the feature length gives director Antonia Bird space to focus on each of the 12 finalists’ backgrounds, presenting the viewer wiht a picture of society as a politician’s dream: a multi-ethnic, multi-cultural, multi-talented bunch of exuberant kids spread across the spectrum of modern Britain, from first generation immigrants to barrister’s children to those wtih parents on benefits.
Taking the time to listen to these families, the film touches on issues such as the credit crunch, unemployment, immigration, housing, the desperate importance of teachers and the guilt associated with private education; real issues affecting real people, examined in a depth that prime time schedules rarely allow. At the centre are these children enjoying reading poetry: real evidence of language’s ability to capture the most active and elusive imaginations. It’s an often funny, sometime gripping exploration of what speaks to us when we first start listening. Established cultural figures such as Jeremy Paxman, Philip Pullman, Michael Rosen and the captivating Benjamin Zephaniah are here as guides, but the real stars are the 12 over-eager, giggly, brilliant child performers (above) and their recitals.
This film may well achieve its stated aim to ‘enhance poetry education in schools’ because it makes it look like so much fun.
Richard Rogers
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