Among the most closed communities in the U.S., the Amish shun cameras religiously because they feel that inevitably leads to pride. Their world view is entirely focused on entering heaven in the afterlife, and they are convinced that the only portal rests with their Spartan traditions requiring simplicity—no electricity, to automobiles, no music outside their somber a cappella hymns. Peter Weir's 1985 fictional Witness is one of few cinematic projects that have attempted to show an authentic glimpse into Amish life, and was partially filmed on an Amish farm. So about the only exposure most of us have had to this sequestered group has come from Weir's film and touristy encounters and photos of bearded men and long skirted women riding their horse drawn buggies along the highway. Getting an inside view of the Amish is nearly as difficult as getting an outsider glimpse of Hopi initiation ceremonies, but Lucy Walker finally achieves this with Devil's Playground.
First shown on HBO, Walker's documentary examines the Amish custom of " rumspringa," that begins when children reach the age of 16. Trekkies may liken this to the Vulcan period of pon farr, as the extremely repressed teens are free to join the so called “English world” and all hell breaks out. No teens party like the Amish, who host huge gatherings on the family farmlands, often attended by thousands of beer swilling Amish youth and friends from all regions of the country. Imagine the torrents of hormonal rage being unleashed for the first time, and you get an idea of the scene. It turns out that they also approve of their male teens bedding their Amish girlfriends before marriage. Multiple logical reasons lie behind the madness:
1. Belief that salvation can only occur when an "adult" independently commits himself to the church
2. The Rumspringa rite of passage allows teens to get these devilish notions out of their system
3. Proper early upbringing and desire for Heaven will lead them back to the church
4. 90% of Amish youth become committed church members, and male boyfriends invariably follow their Amish girlfriends
The documentary exposes the extreme pressures these youth actually experience. Social pressures to conform are indeed powerful. Not only are followers the "English" path officially "shunned" (a form of excommunication), but they are set “free” into the world without preparation to deal with it. Amish children are usually schooled within the community until the 8th grade, when they drop out of school to do manual labor of some sort. Continuing education is considered a form of "pride," so without even a high school education opportunities are severely limited. It's far easier to return to the warmth and security of the Amish community.
What makes Walker's documentary stand out from the ordinary are the individuals that give the Amish a human face, most notably its energetic charismatic central character, Faron. Son of an Amish preacher, 18-year old Faron is anything but stereotypical. He loves the church, but also is also into hip hop music and into crystal meth. To support his $100 a day addiction, Faron turns to drug dealing but also ends up serving as a narc. And this is only the beginning of his roller coaster ride through life, as he sorts through girlfriends and tries to get his life in order before eventually returning to the church. Faron's chaotic story alone could hardly be scripted by most Hollywood writers, though David Lynch might give it a whack.
To film these teens as intimately as they do, it's evident that the filmmaker had to form a trusting relationship with her subjects. They talk quite openly about their lives and seriously discuss their religious beliefs, often with the same depth and questioning attitudes that you'd expect at a liberal arts college bull session. At one point a couple of the boys casually leaf through porn magazines on camera, so Walker's camera clearly acts like a fly on the wall in this scene.
Part of the "secret" lies in the fact that Walker spent a number of weeks living in the small Indiana Amish community, getting to know the people and forming friendships. She rented a room with an Amish family and lived among them. The producers had tried this with other potential directors, but they all fizzled out before making headway. Walker then began filming, focusing on the rumspringa practicing teens, getting as many interviews as possible, clips of Amish life, a large party scene, until she ended up with 300 hours of raw footage. As she reveals in the commentary, she wasn't even sure she had a workable film until midway through shooting when she met Faron at a party gathering.
That was a fortuitous event, since the film would have been routinely banal without his presence. Faron loves the camera and exposes his life so honestly and openly that viewers can help but be drawn into his struggles. Of course, that brings the validity of the overall portrait into question since he certainly doesn't represent mainstream Amish youth. But who cares? How do we get to know any unique culture, unless we get to know individual human beings? Besides, Walker includes a few secondary teens with other challenges, so a more universal glimpse of the Amish lifestyle can be gleaned.
Sorting through the vast amount of footage, Walker and editor Pax Wassermann have constructed a reasonably entertaining and extremely insightful 77-minute examination of Amish culture, giving us privy to a world we'd never otherwise experience. I found Devil's Playground very thought provoking and often surprising. Before seeing this, I would have never thought I'd hear someone talk about those wild Amish parties, nor would I have actually felt the conflicts and pressures of their bucolic existence. |
