SLIFF 2017 Review – THE TEACHER

THE TEACHER will screen at the Plaza Frontenac Cinemas as part of the 26th Annual Whitaker St. Louis International Film Festival. Tickets for the Friday November 3 screening at 12:10 PM can be purchased HERE, while tickets for the Tuesday November 7 screening at 2:05 PM can be purchased HERE.

Public schools in the 1980’s weren’t the meccas of fun and romance that film makers like John Hughes produced for film goers. Yes, not here in the states and definitely not overseas. From Slovakia and the Czech Republic comes a tale set in Bratislava circa 1983 that’s part high school drama and courtroom mystery. THE TEACHER in the title is Maria Drazdechova (Zuzana Maurey), who we first encounter as her new students shuffle into her classroom early in the day. The film makers intercut this with the same school at dusk, as several adults enter the facility. Mrs. D (she’s a widow) takes roll call, asking the students to stand when their name is called. Nothing odd there. Oh, and she also wants them to tell her the occupations of their parents. Huh? As each teen relates a job, the film shows those same adults later on in the day. Many of the parents don’t know the reason for the evening gathering, as the teachers’ supervisor calls them to order. Seems that Mrs. D trades favors (hair styling, minor repairs) from the parents for better grades for the students. When one man cannot appease her (he’s an airport accountant asked to help smuggle a cake to Moscow via the flight crew), her wrath may have prompted a suicide attempt. The school administration needs the public support since the accused is a high-ranking Communist party official and her late hubby was a war hero (this is 1983, before the Soviet Union’s collapse). Many don’t want to rock the boat, while a few demand the teacher’s ouster.

THE TEACHER expertly bounces between the meeting, the classroom, and the home life of the students. With the raging night-time debate, the story harkens back to the iconic jury drama 12 ANGRY MEN. Maurery is mesmerizing as the brisk, bitter villain at the film’s heart, a ruthless, petty dictator concerned only with her own comfort. In one sequence, she gives orders to a father while two students spend their after-school hours acting as maids and servants, acting the role of diva queen. The young actors playing her put-upon charges give heart-breaking performances. Two of the men playing fathers really stand out. Martin Havelka is a brutal ex-wrestler who rules his boy with a strap, but will still stand up to those who use them. And Peter Bebjak gives a subtle, quiet performance as Littmann, an astronomer whose wife escaped to the West, leaving him to care for his sad, artistic son Karol. Mrs. D seems to have a more personal interest in him. The conflicts seem real, and the script never opts for an easy resolution. Plus several twists keep us guessing until the final fade out. THE TEACHER is a powerful look at corruption that affects the young and old.