Rich Hall opens this film by introducing California as a place of superlatives before asking the question then how such a place could produce someone like Miley Cyrus; he will come back to her a second time in the film and it is a shame because California Stars is a much better film than this link suggests – because this is not about her and indeed it is not even really about the present manifestation of Californians at all. Instead this film is another in the series of BBC4 films where Rich Hall explores a part of the US and discusses the way it is as a place and ponders on the factors in its formation that may have made it that way. He has done it before with parts of the US and also parts of US culture and, in case you do not know Rich Hall, you should not brace yourself for something dry just because you saw the words 'BBC4' and 'discuss' in there.
In the style of the other films, Hall doesn't propose to give a detailed or extensive history of his subject, and his film, while documentary in nature, is not really a documentary in the way you would expect (particularly from BBC4). The style is much more like a dissertation; a discursive proposal on and around the subject – generally building a case or picture but not worrying every single little detail. This is not to suggest though that the film is not filled with history and things many (including myself) will not know, because it is well researched and thoughtful, fitting together in a way that is much, much sharper than the gently rambling style of Hall would suggest. It does have a few off- notes when it starts to get up-to-date, but the vast majority is on- point.
Some of Hall's films for BBC4 can be quite hard to find once they have been screened and gone from the BBC I-Player, but as with most of them, this one is very much worth catching while it is still easily available (at least within the UK). My hope is that BBC4 do eventually release them in some form as a package, because Hall is building a very impressive series here.
In the style of the other films, Hall doesn't propose to give a detailed or extensive history of his subject, and his film, while documentary in nature, is not really a documentary in the way you would expect (particularly from BBC4). The style is much more like a dissertation; a discursive proposal on and around the subject – generally building a case or picture but not worrying every single little detail. This is not to suggest though that the film is not filled with history and things many (including myself) will not know, because it is well researched and thoughtful, fitting together in a way that is much, much sharper than the gently rambling style of Hall would suggest. It does have a few off- notes when it starts to get up-to-date, but the vast majority is on- point.
Some of Hall's films for BBC4 can be quite hard to find once they have been screened and gone from the BBC I-Player, but as with most of them, this one is very much worth catching while it is still easily available (at least within the UK). My hope is that BBC4 do eventually release them in some form as a package, because Hall is building a very impressive series here.