Hold Me Tight, Let Me Go

Definitely one of the best documentaries I've ever seen. Hold Me Tight, Let Me Go details the interactions between kids, teachers and parents at Mulbery Bush, a specialised boarding school in Oxford for kids from precarious backgrounds or with extreme behavioural issues. From the first scene in which a hyperactive eight year old is required to admit responsibility for his recent action of kicking J____ in the crotch (he uses the other C word) to a pair of stern but reasoning teachers, you know you're in for some intense exchanges. Some of the kids in the school need to hold an adult's hand all day to keep them from losing control. There are multiple scenes in which kids who've completely lost it need to be physically restrained 'til they've calmed down, thrashing, spitting on people and cursing like sailors, even as two adults hold them until their energy is spent. There's a lot of shock and despair involved in watching this kind of thing at length, yet what never ceases to amaze is the infinite patience of the teachers, who hold themselves in check even while on the receiving end of some pretty wild abuse.

The film is brilliantly edited to show many facets of each situation, and also avoids ever once saying, 'Here is an easy fix.' A child who outwardly seems completely uncontrollable, even vile, to the outside viewer at first, may be seen to go on to gain in confidence and maturity over the course of the film, and that such an impossible-seeming transformation is possible can't help but bring hope. You can actually see how the teachers painstakingly achieve such changes over time, with their repetitive, almost relentless enforcement of open communication with each child. But before you can grab at any kind of happy ending feeling as you watch one child graduate in an emotional ceremony, another cursing, hyperactively troubled youngster immediately takes their place.

So much extreme behaviour makes for a very confronting film, but you can often see the toughest moments transform into humour or optimism before your eyes here. This is an exceptional and very moving film.