At Berkeley: Wiseman’s Landmark Documentary

This monumental achievement by 83-year-old documentarian Frederick Wiseman is light, brisk, and ultimately hopeful, considering its epic running time of four hours.

Wiseman charts a tumultuous year on the University of California Berkeley campus, as everyone from the regents to the incoming class feels the effects of reduced state funding for public higher education.

Revolution stirs quickly but then also subsides quickly.

Wiseman’s camera zeroes in on idealistic and opinionated youngsters, believing that they might make a real difference in the world.