Plantiana Yawn. Poorly Filmed Snooze Fest.

Libramedi Intense, gripping, stylish and poignant

Connianatu How wonderful it is to see this fine actress carry a film and carry it so beautifully.

Asad Almond A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

shireenvw I think the film did not just show the traditions of the old method of teaching but also the new way which teaching has taken a turn for and how they both can be linked together to form a master piece of teaching styles and enjoyment. The drama in the film on the other hand I have to admit I felt as though Hector is the personality of both sex teachers because even female teachers find themselves in the role of wanting their younger students even though they cant really help themselves they still fight their way through it regardless. Therefore I feel that Hector can not be seen just as a man but as a teacher figure head of those that struggle and do not wish to admit it to themselves I think it might even be common enough where teachers should have counselling sessions regarding these unwanted feelings, however yes we cannot say for sure that those are unwanted. I think that the film was extremely funny but had some serious moments and life changing decisions took place without anyone actually taking the first step to realizing the outcome of their moves.

Apologi Many people seem to condemn this movie on a value basis as homophilic propaganda. I personally am a religious conservative opposing gay marriage, but nevertheless recognize this as a quality film.What I most enjoyed in this movie were the multiple intellectual discussions on the philosophy of history, i.e. what "history" in its essence is. Having done academic work with the history of ideas many questions and different types of approach were familiar to me from the Academy. Some people find the intellectual banter of the boys, laced with absurd situation humor, untenable, but I can personally testify, that a lot of wordplay like this takes place at academic circles when there are enough people immersed in certain discipline around. It is rare to find this at a regular high school, because usually one class carries only a couple of persons destined to humanistic studies on university level. But the setting of the film was in my view just to explain, what might happen, when such rare occurrence takes place among youngsters.The second point, which many viewers condemned as unrealistic was the strong sexual tone of the film. Now I do agree, that the film promotes a homosexualist agenda, but does that make the portrayal unrealistic? Yongsters coming at age are actually very much brimming with their sexuality, and it is not a rare thing they come up with direct proposals to their teachers. Been there, had the wisdom to decline, but the scenes between Dakin and Irwin are something that in my opinion is fairly common at least in heterosexual relations, as girls are exploring the limits of the power of their sexuality on an authority figure. Now what I do find justifiable in the criticism of the film is, whether the same dynamic applies to homosexual youth, as in their case the recognition and expression of one's orientation might be a much more difficult progress. In this I am no expert to comment, but at least in a heterosexual setting the same dynamic is realistic and in my opinion it is a strength of the film as a piece of art to explore this very dynamic, in spite the society might wish to pretend it does not exist. Is it not a marker of quality art that it explores issues of human nature which are difficult to touch and would be wished away by many in other forms of public discussion? There is of course also the question whether it is believable, that the two best history teachers of the movie happen to be gay. One can of course see this as an attempt to show homosexualism in an idealized light. However, I do have a few friends who have done graduate studies at Oxford, and in their account the old universities indeed do have a sizable number of eccentric gay persons in their faculty - some of whom are also using their position to get in the pants of the younger scholars. It is contemptible that such things happen, but again I make the point, that it is the task of art to show humanity as it is. In spite of the fact that I find homosexual sex in general and especially adult teachers fondling younger boys quite repulsive, in my opinion as a Christian it is important also to see the redeeming qualities of each person. The movie shows us, that neither Hector nor Irwin have had an easy life: they are no idealized romantic subjects, but have been forced to descend to objectible measures to get even one touch from the objects of their longing, or to repress their sexuality, both condemned to a loveless life. However, especially Hector has come into terms with his situation through art and poetry, an objective quality which we can recognize in him. This recognition is not an approval of his deeds, but a recognition of that persons are more complex than just carriers of sexual identities, which should be a think to keep in mind amid all the cultural wars that tend to make everything either glorified of horrified.

tomhiscox3 It seems many reviews of this film accuse it of "glorifying paedophilia", featuring "random vaudeville tunes sung by half-naked students" and said students groped by a teacher they "worship". None of those are true. Nor is it true that this film is a "sick pervert's fantasy". This is a fine film, in which one of many broad themes (along with self-betterment; human history; morality; the importance of education; the importance of fun and the importance of acceptance) is reactions to a teacher groping students and how the victim's mind-set affects it. Many discussions by the characters in the film run parallels to this, and in one of the more explicit mentions of it, one student asks another; "Are we victims?", clearly dismissive of the idea. The film makes no move to excuse it, and it is not, as some suggest, only the 'villains' of the piece who are shocked. The teacher also hits his one of his students with a book at one point, not truly hurting him, and the student laughs it off. This is also arguably a parallel to said student's molestation. If you think this film "disgusting" or "sick" or even just "boring", please re-watch it, and try to understand it this time.

esboella I give this film an Alan Partridge-esque "a mixed bag" rating. Some of it is good some of it not so much. I don't normally watch films but I saw it was an Alan Bennett film (or at least based on his play) and I knew he was some sort of renown playwright so I was expecting something a step up from a McDonalds burger and that's what I got. The downside for me was all the homosexual stuff, if I wanted a film about that I'd watch gay porn, unnecessary I though. The interesting stuff was coaching the boys to take a step up the rotten class system, and some alternative views on history which I can see has upset some here who get their history lessons from Saving Ryan's Privates, but that's good I guess, thought provoking! I had to keep switching over to see if Jake Bugg was on iTunes 2013 yet so I missed bits and pieces. It is perhaps relevant to the extend that the chances of someone like Bugg every going to Oxford lies somewhere between zero and minus infinity!!The film gropes at pupil teacher sex (albeit homosexual)and the consequences which I suppose has some merit. I would not say it was captivating but I would watch it again to see the bits I missed. Obviously with it being a play it is mainly dialogue and it has a fair bit of humour in it, particularly teacher v class banter. Can't really say I felt much empathy with the characters though.It was interesting that the guy with no academic ability got selected because his father once worked at the Oxford, stuck a chord with me as I remember being interviewed at Bristol Uni and being told I was one of the few people who got a particular question on electronics (my course) right. Interesting in that they still rejected me!! Bastards!! I noticed all the other candidate were far posher than me too, I guess I lost points for unbuttoning my collar on a boiling hot day. The other candidates looked like stuck up snooty bank clerks, they were no doubt all given offers despite being unable to answer a question which required some real intelligence rather than coaching. I received no coaching from my 'could not care less' comprehensive obviously.So the unfairness of the whole process is quite interesting, the double standards, the real world aspect. Yea so it is pretty clever overall and pretty honest, you see the stuff which is usually swept under the carpet.I initially gave it a 7 but realised it deserved more hence I gave 8 but finally 10 because it is worth watching and ultimately there are only two film categories total crap or worth watching and it is the latter. Let's face it who watches 7/10ths of a film? First film I have watched in years, I am not a film person really so surprised I am writing a review!!I had expected it to be like the Dead Poets Society but the is no literary romance here (just some gay romance) and there is no great acting except in the sense of making ordinary pupils and staff look ordinary. I felt no emotional attachment to any of the characters, they are not from my working class world, they share non of my values, they are all human shells with nothing of value inside, they are not from my planet.So there it is, my first and maybe my last film review so be gentle with me.As I started off giving what would be Alan Partridge's opinion of the film, I feel for the purpose of balance, it is only fair to give what would be the opinion of his alter ego Paul Calf, which would of course be, "a bag of shite".Interesting perhaps how both Alan and Paul use the 'bag' analogy, neither being tainted by the overly verbose and flowery language used by those with nothing of value to say.I have no doubt Paul would be heading for the nearest bar within ten minutes, and who could blame him?