AshUnow
This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.
Zlatica
One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.
Scarlet
The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.
sheamart
I think this documentary is great. Removing the presence of the filmmaker is what sets this movie apart and allows such honesty to spill out of these kids. Well edited, well paced and entertaining; each story has an arc; while still capturing the essence of the kids. And the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. I saw this at Sundance in 2001 and then again on DVD in 2006 and I remember most of it like it was. But I think a sequence was missing involving an Armenian girl who was fighting with her mom. I remember her escaping outside from a fight her mom and crying to the camera. Its a very vivid memory, but perhaps I saw this in another movie?
ellstonzgunn
this out-standing documentary will probably never be seen by a large audience which is truly unfortunate. it is riveting, touching, sad, hysterical, and unforgettable in every way. it follows east los angeles high-school students for a short time in each of their lives after which time they pass the camera on to another person, thus the name of the movie. what makes it so special is that almost every stereotype you might have about kids in this tough neighborhood is proven false. you get to see the person behind the statistic and it makes you re-evaluate yourself and your perceptions of others. i hope that this film eventually makes it to video. it will be one that i want
jcwla
...this one just isn't worth the cost of a movie ticket. What these filmmakers have done cannot properly be called filmmaking; rather, they just chose sixteen students of some diversity (though not quite as much diversity as the reviews have suggested) and set them loose. The results are, to be brutally frank, far more often boring, self-indulgent, overwrought and off-puttingly grainy than truly insightful.There are, of course, moments of recognition and identification of the sort only possible in documentary film, but overall there's not much more truth here than in "Bully" or, for that matter, a decent TV documentary of the same sort. Though full of talk about sex and sexual diversity and racism, the film brings nothing to the table that will be of use to anyone who has thought about any of these issues with any seriousness. And while certain segments serve absolutely no purpose other than to inject a bit of (admittedly welcome) comic relief, most often the five-minute limit keeps up from becoming emotionally involved with any of the students. An interesting idea, but thumbs down for CHAIN CAMERA.
mario.dimaio
Original and candid, this documentary represents our multi-cultural environment. Light in concept, it reaches many depths. The students make the most out of the notion of passing around video cameras to document their lives. The film touches on just about every issue teenagers have to deal with in today's world. It's multi-dimensional regarding gender, race and class. The kids are funny, totally honest and very real. The filmmakers respect their subjects and never trivialize their issues. This is the face of the world. The audience applauded at the end of the screening. Chain Camera is both riveting and heartwarming. You can't help but become involved with the subjects. Fantastic!
