“I realized the battle was already lost, that we were deluding ourselves if we felt we could force this kid to do anything in school. It was only a question of whether we were going to lose him, as well,” said Gilmour, who chronicles the experiment in the new book “The Film Club” (Twelve).
“He wasn’t like some belligerent, sullen kid. He was a great, sunny guy who happened to hate high school. He was ill-served by going to school. He likes to talk, and he likes to watch movies, so I thought, let’s give the guy something to do that gives him pleasure and see where he goes.”
After Jesse dropped out of 10th grade in 2001, Gilmour started their viewing off with “The 400 Blows,” Francois Truffaut’s early masterpiece about a Paris teenager who turns to petty crime in rebellion against neglectful parents and a repressive school life.
Jesse’s reaction to “The 400 Blows”? “A bit boring,” he told his dad.
But the movie sparked the first dialogue of the Film Club, Jesse revealing that he had worried greatly about failing school and now feared he might have ruined his life.
Gilmour took that as a positive sign, telling Jesse it meant “you’re not going to relax into a bad life.”
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