P-U-L-S-E - P-O-U-N-D-I-N-G.
E-X-H-I-L-A-R-A-T-I-N-G.
E-N-T-H-R-A-L-L-I-N-G.
As directed by Jeffrey Blitz, Spellbound is all of these. The documentary, which follows eight students in their quest to win the 1999 National Scripps Howard Spelling Bee, is alternately gut-wrenching, hilarious, and inspiring. It's even a little bit sad -- and more than a little bit profound.
As seen through the eyes of these particularly determined children (and their sometimes disturbingly determined parents), letters are not just letters. Each "O" and "Y" and "X," instead, is a hinge; a tiny bridge upon which words -- and, for these children and their families, worlds -- teeter.
Of Spellbound's star spellers, none seems more immediately aware of each letter's potential importance than Ashley White. White is a D.C.-area student whose conscious commitment to bettering herself is both impressive and endearing (she uses phrases like "triumph over trials and tribulations" without irony). With both bashfulness and pride, White smiles at the camera before informing us, succinctly, of her goals and what achieving them would signify. For White, then, the Bee is a means to an end, not an end in and of itself.
White's calm demeanor is in sharp contrast with that of another profiled speller, Harry Altman. In footage outside the competition, Altman -- a twitchy, squinty boy whose sense of humor is almost as wacky as his mannerisms -- is a ball of frantic energy. When spelling on the National Bee's stage, all of that energy is compressed into expressions on Altman's face: it is as if, through his facial gymnastics, we are experiencing his thought process's physical embodiment.
To soft-spoken Angela Arenivar, whose Mexican immigrant parents do not speak English, personal success in spelling represents success as Americans for her family. It is heavy stuff for a not-yet-teenager to handle, but Arenivar does so with grace and humility. ("I didn't even know some of those people!" she confides, excited but bewildered, after a group of students at her school congratulate her on her achievement.)
While preparing for the national Bee, Neil Kadakia deals with pressure of a different kind: his father has pledged to feed 5,000 people in India if Neil wins the Bee. Kadakia, quiet, reserved, and gangly, is one of the few children profiled whose parents seem more obsessive than supportive.
Ted Brigham, April DeGideo, Emily Stagg, and Nupur Lala round out the talented octet at the heart of Spellbound. Each of these spellers is so endearing - particularly DeGideo, a self-described "pessimist" - that a problem arises: who on earth should we, the audience, be rooting for?
Don't ask Blitz. Bucking convention, the director does not provide the audience with any easy answers as to which kid - if any -- is the smartest or most deserving. Instead, Blitz maintains the utmost respect for his subjects, presenting all of them on an equal playing field. Blitz clearly realizes that painting certain students as "underdogs" and others as "frontrunners" would not only be a cinematic copout, but would do all of the contestants a disservice.
It is only in segments like that in which Kadakia's father asserts that "in America, if you work hard, you will make it" that Spellbound falters. Such declarations, though they might be true for the Kadakia's specific personal experience, are simplistic and false as blanket generalizations. Additionally, the foundation of spelling bees -- competition -- is universal, so the claims throughout the film that spelling bees are "uniquely American" are somewhat ungrounded.
One of the film's most suspenseful moments comes when White, who describes herself as "a praying fool," is given the word "ecclesiastical." If White spells the word correctly, the result will be a breathtaking example of intellectual and spiritual synergy. If she does not, the irony is cruel and crushing.
And there in that moment is the inherently ironic nature of the spelling bee encapsulated: after the striving, the studying, and the sacrifice comes, for all but one contestant, the slip-up results in failure.
Spellbound's beauty is in its skillful inversion of that logic; in its patient and non-platitudinous refusal to equate slip-ups with failure. The stories that unfold within Spellbound illustrate that "winning" -- in spelling bees, card games, and, yes, life in general -- is relative. Luck and coincidence are as essential to "winning" as skill.
None of these are new themes. In fact, had Blitz handled them more heavy-handedly, Spellbound may have crossed the line from inspiring to irritating. But Spellbound does not preach. Instead, it shows. And it leaves us with the quiet knowledge that disappointment, while painful, can pale in comparison to accomplishment.
But do these children realize this? In their minds, has their "failure" to win the National Bee invalidated all of their hard work? Indeed, it is gutting to see the children - White in particular -- crumple onto their parents' shoulders, crushed. And in those moments of frustrated disappointment, it is impossible not to wonder, as an acquaintance of Stagg's mother does, if these students' spelling regimes do in fact border on being child abuse.
But in the end, the sense of accomplishment wins out over the sense of disappointment. Were you to ask White or any of her fellow spelling stars if all of their studying was worth it, Spellbound leaves you confident that their answer would be yes.
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