PUMP UP THE VOLUME
US, 1990, 100 minutes, Colour.
Christian Slater, Annie Ross, Ellen Greene, Samantha Mathis.
Directed by Alan Moyle.
Pump Up The Volume is a cult youth film. It was written and directed by Allen Moyle (director of 1980s youth film, Times Square).
The film is set in Arizona, shows an ordinary high school, families, alienated youth with their angst. It seems that there is elitism in the school with victimisation of students who don't measure up to the standards of the principal. There is also a range of students from the very earnest to the drop-out types, also those who have to live up to parental expectations. Into this community comes the very shy Mark with his parents from the east (and his father as the regional school inspector).
The shy Mark, however, has a radio studio in the family basement and once he is behind the microphone at 10 pm he becomes Hard Harry, a radio personality who speaks to the alienated youth, reflects their anxieties, plays their music, talks their language. However, this is a mixed responsibility for Mark, especially after the suicide of one of his correspondents.
Things come to a head and there is a confrontation between students and some of the faculty and parents - with the obvious vindication of the teenagers against the hard adults. (Ellen Greene, however, is a sympathetic teacher.)
The film seems to be stacked on the side of the teenagers against parents - however, it is presenting life from a teenage point of view and dramatising it by means of the popularity of radio as a medium of communication and the influence of radio personalities.
Christian Slater seems quite at home in the role of Mark and Hard Harry - and many have linked it to his performance in the cult youth film Heathers, made a year earlier. The roles are entirely different - but Slater has that somewhat offbeat screen presence which makes him memorable and distinctive.
A rebel with a radio - getting teenage audiences on side and irritating the older generation.
1.Interesting and entertaining youth film? Cult status? Impact for American audiences? Audiences around the world?
2.Arizona locations, the town, homes, school? Authentic American atmosphere?
3.The musical score, the range of songs, youth culture, radio culture, rock and roll, strong lyrics? Frank lyrics?
4.The role of radio in communication, as a mass medium, its particular audiences, local radio, personalities, power and influence?
5.Teenagers and their anxieties, crises? Real and unreal? Spirit of rebellion, need for self-understanding, understanding by adults? The role of education and discipline and school? Influence of peers?
6.The initial impact of Hard Harry: the studio, talking to the young audience, local audience? Programming, the persona, the direct talk, youth talk, reflecting anxieties, loneliness, sexual behaviour and relationships, music?
7.The contrast with Mark at school and at home? His parents and their not talking directly to him, concern for psychiatric care? His father a school inspector? Moving from the east, his loneliness, inability to talk directly to people? The meals and tension? His going to his room? Changing completely? At school, shy, glasses, his story being read out, the sympathetic teacher, his not relating to the other teenagers, Norah's curiosity, returning Lennie Bruce's book, talking, her following him to the post office and discovering his identity?
8.Hard Harry and the letters, reading them out on air, talking, Norah, the teenager who thought she had to be perfect, the boy ringing up about his loneliness (and the glimpse of his parents) and his suicide? The homosexual and his story? Harry listening, the audience listening, the youth gathering in their cars, the groups? The suspended boy and his response? The effect on the teenagers, the selling of the tapes at school, the graffiti on the school and repeating Harry's words?
9.The portrait of the staff? The principal and her tough attitudes, elitism? Presence in the school, talking to staff, the meetings with the staff? The counsellor and his interview, his hanging up, his reaction? Injustice to the student? The teacher in charge of discipline, concern about the records, selling the tapes? The contrast with the literature teacher and her sympathetic classes? Her being sacked after taking the files and exposing the principal?
10.Mark's father, the meetings, the questions, the truth about the principal and his sacking her?
11.The police and their pursuit? Federal authorities? Trying to track the radio? The car chase?
12.Mark and the broadcasts, trying to elude the pursuers? His knowledge of electronics and giving them false leads? The friendship with Norah, discussions with her, his parents coming home and her standing up for him? Breaking through shyness? The effect of the boy committing suicide and his taking the blame? Trying to handle the situation? Hard Harry becoming more than he expected, his trying to handle the situation? Becoming a cult figure? Influence? The girl putting her gear in the microwave and talking at the meeting? The echoes of Peter Finch in Network urging people to rebel? The reaction of the students at home, at school? The parents and teachers meeting?
13.The pursuit, Mark's being caught, his identity? His future?
14.The effect of this kind of film - teenage anxiety, anarchy, the plea for understanding? The rebel with some kind of cause?
