Review of Following Sean (2006) by James G — 23 Aug 2012

What seemed to be a fairly simple premise, that of catching up with a 4 yr. old boy who Arlyck had filmed as a student project, turns into an interesting meditation on how it is we become who we are. What are the influences, genetic and environmental which shape us? Arlyck's focus moves from Sean himself, both as child, in 1969, and as an adult over about a 10 yr. period from about 1995 through 2003, to Sean's parents, siblings, and grandparents. Arlyck also draws in his own history and that of his family, including his wife, sons, and his parents and siblings.

I found the journey of discovery as constructed by Arlyck to be fascinating, rich and sometimes, a bit confounding. It's a journey that is worth taking. Incidentally, my wife found the film a bit of a downer, and indeed, in some ways the lives of many of those chronicled have melancholic aspects to them. The larger arc of their lives, however, especially that of Sean's, is so much better than you'd have guessed from his beginnings that, to me, the film is an expression of optimism about the resilience of the human spirit. It is also a rather wry commentary on how we become our own persons, almost regardless of our parents and environment, almost as though there are some pre set operating parameters in us virtually from birth. Fascinating.