“You know what’s really fascinating in a weird way?” actor and musician Jason Schwartzman asked in an interview with WSN. “When you go to your high school reunion, the ones that were the tough or the popular ones … now they’re kind of weird.”
This idea of being weird and different is one of the major themes driving the experimental documentary “Teenage,” directed by NYU alumnus Matt Wolf and premiering at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival.
Executive produced by Schwartzman and adapted from the 2007 book “Teenage: The Creation of Youth Culture” by Jon Savage, “Teenage” rebels against what audiences expect from the genre, just as a teenager might rebel against authority.
Traveling back to the early 20th century — before being a teenager, in today’s colloquial sense, “was a thing” — the documentary is comprised of archival footage and voice-over narrations that take the viewer into the heads of flappers, swing kids and the revolutionary young people who battled societal norms. They unintentionally shaped and changed their entire generation in the process.
“Teenagers live in the moment,” Wolf said. “They are not self-conscious about doing bold things. They invent new styles and new modes of expression. In their rebellion, I think they’re acting out a kind of will to reimagine the future. And I think that’s powerful.”
“Obviously, I’m not a teenager. I’m old,” Savage added. “But I’m still in touch with my inner teenager … because it’s such a formative period. It’s a crucial time of development and growth, when you separate from your parents, and then you join the world with your peers, and then maybe individuate from your peers.”
Wolf had always been a fan of Savage’s writing, but after stumbling upon this particular book, he reached out through a mutual friend. The collaboration piqued Schwartzman’s interest, and he soon joined the project.
“I think most historical documentaries would be regarded as academic,” Wolf said about the film. “And there’s nothing wrong with academic things, except I wanted the film to be an intellectual history that has a strong emotional and artistic impact.”
And “Teenage” is certainly in touch with its artistic side. Described as a “living collage,” the film is reassembled with images, clips, voices and stories from teenagers of the past, with voice-over narrations from actors like Jena Malone and Ben Whishaw.
As for their experiences as teenagers, all three men agreed they spent a lot of time feeling alone. Wolf was a teenage gay activist and published his school’s underground newspaper. Savage felt isolated until he discovered artists like The Velvet Underground.
As for Schwartzman, he described his teenage years spent as the “clown … the person who will fall and make an idiot of himself.” The actor said he also spent plenty of time liking girls who didn’t like him back.
“If I could make that one event, like how Vietnam was one very, very long war, and we call it Vietnam … or how the ’80s are 10 individual years, but we use one word … my one word would be ignored,” Schwartzman said. “That would … define 10 years.”
Jeremy Grossman is film editor. Email him at [email protected].