For his enthralling first feature, Allan King took his cameras to a home for emotionally disturbed young people. Situated inside the facility like a fly on the wall, we witness the full spectrum of emotions displayed by twelve fascinating children and the caregivers trying to nurture and guide them. The stunning Warrendale won the Prix d’art et d’essai at Cannes and a special documentary award from the National Society of Film Critics. –The Criterion Collection
Internationally acclaimed Canadian filmmaker Allan King is among his country’s best filmmakers. His most famous film is his debut Warrendale, a wrenching documentary examination of life in a home for emotional disturbed teens. So brutal and disturbing was the 1966 made-for-television film that neither the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation nor the BBC would air the film. He released it theatrically in 1966 and it won a prize at Cannes and earned him a reputation as a major filmmaker. King was born and raised in Vancouver, British Columbia. Before becoming a director he obtained a degree in philosophy, worked as a cabbie and traveled throughout Europe. In 1954 he began working for the CBC and became a television director in 1956. During the ’60s, King began working independently as a director and producer. Later he took much of the footage he had not used in Warrendale and used it to create Children in Conflict, an 18-part television series. In addition to producing… read more
It hurts so much to watch this movie, but it's definitely one of the best ever created documentaries. Such deep portrait of both most fragile and the strongest people - a truly amazing work by Allan King.
Amazing film, this thing definitely made an impact on me. And what a climax, my god!
