Directed by:
Jan HřebejkScreenplay:
Petr JarchovskýCinematography:
Martin ŽiaranComposer:
Michal NovinskiCast:
Zuzana Mauréry, Csongor Kassai, Zuzana Konečná, Tamara Fischer, Martin Havelka, Éva Bandor, Oliver Oswald, Peter Bebjak, Richard Labuda, Ina Gogálová (more)VOD (1)
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Since the arrival of the new teacher, Maria Drazdechova, to a Bratislava suburban school in the year of 1983, life has turned upside down for students and parents. The convincement of the teacher's corrupted behaviour and one of the students' suicide attempt that could be related to that matter, makes the school Principal call the students' parents for an urgent meeting that will suddenly put the future of all the families at stake. They are asked to sign a petition to move Miss Drazdechova out of the school. The teacher's high connections within the Communist Party makes everyone feel threatened, but at his point they have no choice but to make a decision: will they dare to go against Miss Drazdechova and stand up for what they believe in at any risk, or will they just remain silent and let things be? (A-Company CZ)
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Reviews (10)
The Teacher is definitely one of the best films from Czech production (or rather from Czech-Slovak co-production) in 2016. It benefits in particular from the engaging and poignant theme of bullying and exploitation during the communist regime, all set in a school environment that lends itself well to projecting issues of relationships for both children and adults. Another pillar of success was the casting of Zuzana Mauréry in the lead role of teacher Drazděchová, who, as some users have suggested, stands up to comparison with Harry Potter's Dolores Umbridge (the Karlovy Vary award for Best Actress was well deserved in my opinion, although I'm not familiar with the competition). The various interludes between the parents' meeting at the school and what preceded it worked brilliantly, and from the start I was anxiously awaiting the revelation of the "terrible event" for which this meeting was actually held. And the final scene, with the sound of the unmistakable click of heels, got me. All in all, a very well made, written and acted film, which more than once aroused in me a considerable wave of anger and indignation, and made me think about how I would behave in a similar situation.
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I guess my review will seem rather schizophrenic. The film was enjoyable to watch, Zuzana Mauréry in the role of a teacher was really punch-worthy (and I don't hit women despite equal rights) and the meeting of the various different characters at PTA meetings was very enlightening. That’s as far as the positives go. But I still remember going to primary school in the 80s quite well (strange as it may seem) and I know it wasn’t like that at all. Life was neither black and white nor red and white, it was mostly a huge gray zone. Sure, there were some downright bad guys (our Comrade Deputy Director sure was dreamy), but no one was completely innocent (although one or two cases came close). Anyway, I think the screenwriter and director made things much easier for themselves, and since it was a drama - two stars. I’d be more benevolent if it was a comedy.
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And that’s how it was with everything in those shitty times. All the people were equal, but unfortunately some were more equal than others, so there were so many mental cripples in this country to make you lose your mind. Intimidation, blackmail, dismissal from work for having an opinion or for a bad background check, bootlicking, corruption, you name it. They say we never achieved true communism, but even those decades of Soviet-style socialism screwed up the morale of this nation for generations to come. Hopefully, this country will never repeat similar leftist experiments because we might not be able to handle a second load of such filth. Anyway, the movie was very well made in terms of acting, Hřebejk's minimalist style and great soundtrack.
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We have to help each other in a Czechoslovakian way. Although I can't shake the feeling that it would work better on the stage, I don't regret the time invested. And I wouldn't regret even more if the Jarchovský/Hřebejk duo once had been backed by a clear storyline. It is not directed as a story from beginning to end, but there are rather individual separate "bachelor's" segments, where every twenty minutes are devoted to one family and then the focus is on another one, without ever returning to the previous ones. It is also a pity that the children are sidelined after a while. The reason why it works so well in spite of the above is that the situation and its solution from the point of view of individual families is played out interestingly, that what Jarchovský spoils in terms of plot, is made up with dialogs and the fact that the performances of unknown cast is amazing. In other words, that is the most sad is the opportunity of the final part was completely wasted.
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Jan Hřebejk has made a very strong film that shows that he and Jarchovský have really mastered the communist era, both from the more comedic and the more dramatic perspectives. If they’d gone any further this film would almost be a horror film. This film also shows us that it's not so much about the time period, but rather about the people.
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