Film Movement DVD Review: The Country Teacher (2008)

Now Available to Own

Join the Movement

Bookmark this on Delicious

Print Page





Just moments after finishing Czech writer/director Bohdan Slama's tenderly subtle and understated third work The Country Teacher, I realized I'd become inspired to track down his first feature length foray into filmmaking Wild Bees to see if there's a existentially humanistic undertone running throughout his cinematic offerings.

Following up his previous internationally lauded and award winning sophomore title, Something Like Happiness (also released by the prestigious DVD-of-the-Month film festival delivery service Film Movement), Slama's Teacher could very well have been dubbed "Something Like Love."

Similar to his earlier impressive work-- of which unfortunately I'm unable to recall much in the way of specifics (despite reviewing it in 2007)-- Slama crafts flawed yet recognizable three dimensional characters and ensures that their emotions and what isn't being said is just as important as the scripted dialogue. Likewise and again tying right in with the previous title, his characters try to seek out their own version of happiness in realistic, boundary breaking, universally relatable ways which you'll discover in The Country Teacher.

By dressing up a story about forgiveness and unrequited love as though it were a straightforward, traditional boy meets girl (or in this case, girl meets boy but boy likes boy) romantic paradigm, Slama's film is able to surprise viewers as it explores much richer terrain. Namely, The Country Teacher-- and by extension Slama-- addresses the abstract nature of love by depicting the ways that even misguided attempts and failures can evolve into yet another little dissected layer of love in terms of unexpected friendships among outsiders.

In doing so, he introduces us to our quiet and educated title character, credited solely by his profession and often referred to simply as “the teacher" as portrayed by his frequent star, Pavel Liska who arrives in the picturesque countryside after accepting a position educating the inhabitants of the area about natural science.

Young, handsome, and instantly intriguing as a new arrival, the teacher's attempts to keep a low profile are dismissed when he becomes the object of affection of the Stockholm International Film Festival award-winning Best Actress Zuzana Bydzovska's character Marie.

However, a misreading of body language and shared conversational ease results in a fumbled attempt at intimacy, after which Marie retreats on her farm equipment truly embarrassed and tries to cover for the heartbreaking gaffe by admitting that she knows she's no longer young. Yet despite this, audience members uncover much earlier than she does that the teacher's avoidance of her romantically is biological and not just a rude generic verification that he's just not that into her.

Having successful hidden the fact that he is gay by going as far as to discuss a previous heterosexual relationship that had teetered on the brink of marriage, the teacher's secret is brought to light along with another truth he's been painfully trying to ignore when an impulsive whirlwind of an ex-boyfriend arrives in town.

Jealous that the teacher is no longer interested in him romantically, the ex proves to have undeniably fool-proof love radar when he discovers that the teacher has been harboring a crush on Marie's handsome seventeen year old son.

Urged by Marie to tutor the boy, the teacher tries miserably to deny his feelings but the arrival of the ex serves as the film's one figurative domino that has knocked down the main trio's truest intentions and obsessions as blind love and lust inspire a hopeless action that threatens to change their dynamic forever.

Similar to Film Movement's recent gorgeous yet unfortunately dully named French character-based charmer (or “people mover” as I prefer) The Grocer's Son, Slama's exceedingly well-acted ensemble piece is augmented by breathtaking lensing and fortunately Teacher's stellar beauty garnered an award for its talented cinematographer Divis Marek.

Overall, Slama's film is a moving portrait of unrequited love, the struggle to be true to one's identity and power of forgiveness that gives off a distinct feeling that the characters could very well be real individuals in villages, towns, cities and countries around the globe. A beautiful and thematically similar follow-up to his previous exploration in Something Like Happiness, Slama's subtle work as mentioned earlier successfully follows humanity's endless yet necessary quest for something like love.

Nominated for nine awards in its native Czech Republic, this joint production from Germany and France as well also had the unique distinction of being chosen as an Official Selection at both the 2008 Venice and Toronto International Film Festival before Film Movement honored Slama by selecting his newest release for their catalog as one of the rare “two films by the same director” acknowledgment of his immense talent. And after sharing it with subscribers in its DVD-of-the-month club, The Country Teacher has finally been released to non-subscribers and foreign film enthusiasts this week which will hopefully call attention to the talent of Slama with its wider availability online and via select retailers and rental providers.

Text ©2009, Film Intuition, LLC; All Rights Reserved. http://www.filmintuition.com
Unauthorized Reproduction or Publication Elsewhere is Strictly Prohibited.

Something Like Happiness

Director: Bodhan Slama

There comes a time in our 20’s when we all must come to the painful realization that instead of waiting for our lives to simply begin, we must realize that it’s already begun and it’s up to us to make the decisions that will shape the life we want. We all want happiness, of course, or something like that and in director Bodhan Slama’s perceptive import (courtesy of Film Movement) from the Czech Republic where it was not only a box office success in its homeland but chosen as the official submission to the Academy Awards, we meet three twenty-something adults all struggling to come to grips with their lives. Childhood friends Monika (Tatiana Vilhelmova), Tonik (Pavel Liska) and Dasha (Ana Geislerova) all live in the same run-down housing project near a tiny industrial area of the Czech Republic and soon we realize that each are at a very substantial crossroads in their individual paths. As we first encounter the trio, Monika is saying goodbye to her long-term boyfriend who has left his country behind to seek better opportunities in America where she hopes to be invited to join him. Until then, Monika spends her days stocking shelves at a grocery store while the beautiful, promiscuous and mentally unstable Dasha neglects her two young children and carries on an affair with a married salesman. Tonik, whom Monika’s father calls too “softhearted” for his own good moves out of his parents' home and into the old, crumbling farmhouse occupied by his aunt where he decides to restore the dwelling that’s been in his family for generations, despite the wishes of his father’s company to simply cut their losses, destroy the building and sell the land to the factory. When Dasha is institutionalized after suffering a breakdown from the dissolution of her sexual relationship, Tonik and Monika step in to care for her toddlers, moving out with them to the farmhouse in the hopes of giving the boys some semblance of a normal, happy life, as Tonik tries to hide his long-held feelings of love for his childhood friend Monika. Winner of seven Czech Lion Aawrds in 2006, Slama’s Something Like Happiness is even more impressive when one realizes that it’s only the second feature made by the writer/director and one that definitely paints a heartbreaking, funny, true and bittersweet portrait of young adults making major life decisions. Tatiana Vilhelmova who earned a Best Actress award at the San Sebastian Film Festival for her work is especially good as is Pavel Liska and their charismatic portrayals make you forgive the slightly vague and unfinished conclusion to the piece that does not offer enough closure overall. The film, which played as an official selection of numerous festivals including London and Toronto, also earned a Best Film Award at festivals in both San Sebastian and Athens. Something Like Happiness is available exclusively through Film Movement.