The History Boys
The History Boys was meant to be a British school version of Dead Poets Society, except its Robin Williams character doesn't quite create the same magic, being a fat, old paedophile.
The plot: Director Nicholas Hytner and writer Alan Bennett introduce us to a group of clearly gifted boys at a lower class British secondary school in the 1980s. The students of the 'special' class have all qualified to sit for admission to Oxford or Cambridge. The Principal, thirsting for success, hires a young gun teacher to teach them how to pass the exam. This flies in the face of the established academic staff, particularly the fat, old paedophile, who believes in knowledge and education for their own sake.
The central plot revolves around the struggle between the new and old methods of teaching and goal setting - do you want to know the facts on the test paper or do you want to be a well-rounded human being? The sadness of the loss of innocence that the students face when being taught to pass the exam is drawn against a parallel loss of sexual innocence. Their collective cherries are being popped from both ends, so to speak.
I don't recall that the film came to any real conclusion as the final scene, where the history teacher does a sort of flash-forward scene to tell us where all the boys and teachers ended up, is pretty bland. Most end up where you'd expect; and of course the only one to join the army is one of a handful that died from friendly fire in the 1991 Gulf War (statistically dreadfully unlucky).
In summary: The History Boys could have been better without doubt if it had avoided the moralising and concentrated on the academic competition, which should have been at the centre of its focus. Sexual tension is all well and good, but when it's almost exclusively homosexual and mostly involving paedophilia it tends to rot the core of the narative. The British education system may be built on the practice, but I couldn't see what value it added here.
Rating: 3 out of 10. Absolute crap that tries to generate some interest by trying to seem brave about homosexuality and 'understanding' the impulses of paedophile teachers. The actors, however, were all very good; but with this silly story to work with even Bogart would have struggled. This film won a BAFTA, but then again Farenheit 9/11 won the Palme D'Or and Yasser Arafat won the Nobel Peace Prize.
The Casablanca comparison: Suffice to say that neither Rick nor Louis ever molested any of the young boys who passed through Casablanca. Of course, Louis had a go at some of the young women, but I couldn't see him throwing his hand down the pants of anything younger than 18.
The plot: Director Nicholas Hytner and writer Alan Bennett introduce us to a group of clearly gifted boys at a lower class British secondary school in the 1980s. The students of the 'special' class have all qualified to sit for admission to Oxford or Cambridge. The Principal, thirsting for success, hires a young gun teacher to teach them how to pass the exam. This flies in the face of the established academic staff, particularly the fat, old paedophile, who believes in knowledge and education for their own sake.
The central plot revolves around the struggle between the new and old methods of teaching and goal setting - do you want to know the facts on the test paper or do you want to be a well-rounded human being? The sadness of the loss of innocence that the students face when being taught to pass the exam is drawn against a parallel loss of sexual innocence. Their collective cherries are being popped from both ends, so to speak.
I don't recall that the film came to any real conclusion as the final scene, where the history teacher does a sort of flash-forward scene to tell us where all the boys and teachers ended up, is pretty bland. Most end up where you'd expect; and of course the only one to join the army is one of a handful that died from friendly fire in the 1991 Gulf War (statistically dreadfully unlucky).
In summary: The History Boys could have been better without doubt if it had avoided the moralising and concentrated on the academic competition, which should have been at the centre of its focus. Sexual tension is all well and good, but when it's almost exclusively homosexual and mostly involving paedophilia it tends to rot the core of the narative. The British education system may be built on the practice, but I couldn't see what value it added here.
Rating: 3 out of 10. Absolute crap that tries to generate some interest by trying to seem brave about homosexuality and 'understanding' the impulses of paedophile teachers. The actors, however, were all very good; but with this silly story to work with even Bogart would have struggled. This film won a BAFTA, but then again Farenheit 9/11 won the Palme D'Or and Yasser Arafat won the Nobel Peace Prize.
The Casablanca comparison: Suffice to say that neither Rick nor Louis ever molested any of the young boys who passed through Casablanca. Of course, Louis had a go at some of the young women, but I couldn't see him throwing his hand down the pants of anything younger than 18.
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