Cucalorus screening response

          On Sunday, November 16^th, Kevin and I met up and attended the showing of the documentary Happy Valley. The film was directed by Amir Bar-Lev (who was not in attendance at the event). I hadn’t heard or read anything about the film, apart from a short plot summary, prior to the screening. The documentary’s focus was the 2011 Penn State scandal involving renowned assistant football coach, Jerry Sandusky, and legendary head football coach, Joe Paterno. The narrative was created through primary interviews with Jerry Sandusky’s adopted son, Joe Paterno’s wife and sons, and a former Penn State student (and former Penn State football fan) who had attended the university during the scandal. There was also plenty of footage from Penn State’s campus and community, as well as found footage of news broadcasts and television interviews incorporated throughout the film to help shape the narrative and a set a tone for the documentary.

            In terms of professionalism, access to locations, range of pertinent interview subjects, and overall quality, I thought the film was very successful. These elements were combined well to produce an emotionally and visually effective film. It was a timely piece, and looked and sounded great (which is probably why Cucalorus labeled it a “premium” screening, and admission was $15 instead of $10). Kevin and I seemed to be the college student minority in the audience, as most attendees appeared to be around retirement age. A handful of audience members were actually decked out in Penn State garb, and did the “WE ARE—PENN STATE” chant right before and after the screening.

            The only part of the film I didn’t think was quite as effective as it could have been was the ending—like, literally the last few seconds before the credits began. There were, I think, two or three “updates” at the end of the film and only one (from what I remember) was about an interview subject; the last update was about Sandusky’s adopted son, Matt, and then the text cut away to Matt building something in his garage while his kids played around him and a quirky, upbeat bluegrass-type ballad played through the credits. I wasn’t sure what the filmmaker was trying to make the audience think/feel with this ending, but it felt like a bit of an odd departure from the tone of the rest of the film. Overall, I did enjoy the film and was glad I had the opportunity to see it.