My Twelfth Confession… | Confessions Of A School Teacher's Blog

Confession #12: I SUPPORT any movie which highlights teaching.

There are a lot of movies out there that celebrate the teaching profession and a few that condemn it, but I like seeing them all.  It is nice to know that someone can make money from this profession- even if it is just an actor:)  Just joking, but I do like these movies because, good or bad, they tend to shed some light on the trials of being a teacher.  I want others to see how important the profession can be!  (I can even stand those movies about the "white savior" teacher who is seemly the only hope for the minority inner city kids to learn….sometimes- but that's another blog)

So, needless to say, I was pleasantly surprised when I saw the description for the movie, Detachment, at the Tribeca Film Festival.  Below is the review I wrote for the Film.  Let me know what you think!

Detachment

"You can see me? Thank you!" ~ Mr. Wiatt

I sat in the theater very excitingly awaiting this movie because, as a teacher, I encourage any movie that can highlight the impact teachers can make on the educational field and its students.  However, it was very clear, based on the abstractness of the director's introductory musical performance that this movie may be about something entirely different.

Needless to say I was right.  Detachment was a movie about the psychological trials and demands teachers undergo on a daily basis with students, faculty, colleagues, and administration.  It does an excellent job of highlighting the shift in responsibility that has occurred over the last century.

The movie isn't pretty.  It isn't some story about an amazing teacher who transforms a class from failure to success.  Instead it is a real account of some of the lack of respect that teachers receive and the need for appreciation that students crave from adults.  Viewers walk away with good and bad depictions of teachers, but more importantly  incite into the real demands and the need for more respect in the educational field.

The movie is mainly about a substitute teacher names Henry Barthes.  Henry purposefully choose a career as a substitute teacher because he does not like to be attached to anyone in his life.  A new teaching assignment places him at a failing public school which alters his private world.   He develops a relationship with three different women: a student, a fellow teacher, and a teenage runway; who make an impact in his life.   The movie models a contemporary vision of people who become increasingly distant from others while still feeling the need to connect.

The movies stars Lucy Liu (Kill Bill), Blythe Danner (Meet the Parents), James Caan (The Godfather), Tim Blake Nelson (O Brother Where Art Thou), William Petersen (CSI), and Bryan Cranston (Malcolm in the Middle), but it is  Adrian Brody (The Piano) who carries the film on his able shoulders.  I recommend you check this out.

GRADE= B+