SummaryIn a middle school classroom in Bratislava in 1983, a new teacher, Maria Drazdechova (Zuzana Mauréry), asks each student to stand up, introduce themselves and tell her what their parents do for a living. It slowly becomes clear that perhaps the pupils' grades are related to how willing their guardians are open to helping her out with her errands,... Read More
Directed By:Jan Hrebejk
Written By:Petr Jarchovský
The Teacher
Metascore
Generally Favorable
77
User score
Generally Favorable
7.2
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Top Cast
Metascore
Generally Favorable
88% Positive
7 Reviews
7 Reviews
13% Mixed
1 Review
1 Review
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Aug 31, 2017
100
Like the remarkable films Eastern European countries turned out regularly during the Soviet era, it marries a character-driven story with social concerns, in this case a deft parable about the kind of corrupt privileged society nominally egalitarian Socialism created.
Aug 25, 2017
90
Although dealing with weighty matters, Jarchovsky’s script (which is based on a real-life incident he experienced during primary school) is leavened with welcome humor and irony.... As usual, Hrebejk’s direction is smooth and the ensemble performances top-notch.
Aug 25, 2017
83
Jan Hřebejk’s The Teacher is a sardonic, richly seriocomic morality play that uses a delicate touch to explore why communism never seems to work out in the long run.
Aug 31, 2017
70
The setup may be as unsubtle as a metaphoric morality lesson about Europe’s not-too-distant past, or perhaps it’s politically timeless; it’s not a far leap to also think about a certain someone’s insane need for backscratching loyalty within the White House.
Aug 29, 2017
70
Ms. Maurery has great fun with the character, a tricky part because Maria nearly always maintains a kindhearted veneer, even at her most venal.
Aug 25, 2017
70
Though somewhat slow out of the starting blocks, this finally caustic drama, set in early 1980s Bratislava (then in Czechoslovakia), accumulates power and insight as it builds over the course of a tense parents-teachers conference, punctuated with the necessary flashbacks.
Aug 31, 2017
50
There's a Tarkovskian layer of social despair in the web of corruption joining the child and the adult, the bedroom and the nation.
User score
Generally Favorable
82% Positive
9 Ratings
9 Ratings
9% Mixed
1 Rating
1 Rating
9% Negative
1 Rating
1 Rating
Sep 18, 2017
8
This drama time-set occurs in Czecho-Slovakian Socialist Republic in 1980es.
A manipulative school teacher who is also a local Communist Party secretary abuses her position and status to extort all kinds of favors: food, different services, etc. from her pupils and their parents. Authors masterfully show the atmosphere of silence, fear and helplessness in the face of anybody who represents the power of the State. Even though it was happening in Czecho-Slovakia, it was typical for any socialist regime. The movie looks quite authentic and realistic. Good performances, directing and music score. One has to come through a similar personal experience to fully understand the magnitude of soul corruption that a regime like that causes its subjects. It's effects live much longer than the regime itself.
Jun 27, 2019
7
(Mauro Lanari)
Wow: the return of the dark lady, the most politically incorrect thing at the times of the #metoo. The answer beyond the Iron Curtain to "Disclosure" by Crichton & Levinson. Perhaps such a clear denunciation of the abuse of power by women (with the connivance of the notorious wealthy parents) was missing from the cinema since that 1994.
Production Company:
- Ceská Televize
- Offside MEN
- PubRes
- Rozhlas a televízia Slovenska
Release Date:Aug 30, 2017
Duration:1 h 42 m
Tagline:An ordinary school, an ordinary class, an extraordinary teacher.
Awards
Sun in a Net Awards, Slovakia
• 4 Wins & 12 Nominations
Gijón International Film Festival
• 2 Wins & 3 Nominations
Czech Lions
• 3 Nominations
