Directed by Declan McGrath & Neasa Ní Chianáin
Rated PG
Score 6/6
An observational documentary set in post-conflict Belfast’s Ardoyne, where a marginalized, working class community has for generations been plagued by poverty, drugs and guns. This film charts the dream of Headmaster Kevin McArevey and his dedicated, visionary team illustrating how critical thinking and pastoral care can empower and encourage children to see beyond the boundaries and limitations of their own community. We see how philosophy encourages young boys to question the mythologies of war and of violence, and sometimes challenge the narratives their parents, peers and socio-economic group would dictate.
Young Plato is selected to be screened at the 2022 Irish Film Festival. If you’re going to go to a film festival in person or if you choose to stream the festival movies I believe that you should always watch a movie about music, a documentary that is going to teach you something and then of course some sort of genre movie. As far as the Irish Film Festival is concerned, Young Plato is the documentary that is going to teach you something. Watching I realized how long it has been since I last watched an observational documentary and how it has affected my opinion about documentaries and I realized that perhaps I need to watch a few more observational documentaries in the future. I couldn’t help but be a little jealous of some of the younger students because of how beloved McArevey is by them. I always thought that school principals were supposed to be a little frightening. I found that the file footage of police and protests that was used throughout the documentary to be a little jarring, though the class discussion that was had about local history with the ‘old boy’ of the school to be very profound. It’s great to see that students are being taught how to question the mythologies of war and of violence because by their very nature questions are important.
A question was asked by McArevey to his students ‘Is it possible to think about nothing?’ and there was a very interesting class discussion. I’d like to say that personally I think it is possible to think about nothing, though whenever I think about nothing people always seem to think that there is something wrong with me.
