The History Boys

Starring: Richard Griffiths, Frances de la Tour, Stephen Campbell Moore, Samuel Anderson, Dominic Cooper, James Corden, Jamie Parker, Russell Tovey

Written by: Alan Bennett

Directed by: Nicholas Hytner

Distributor: Fox Searchlight Pictures

Rated: R

If you’ve heard anything at all about it so far, The History Boys is everything it sounds like – another coming-of-age film about those last days in school before going off to the halls of higher education. However, this one’s British and leans rather heavily on an exploration of the identities and personalities of those teachers who work so hard to forge the final educational connections of primary school before students pass beyond graduation. It’s a commercial indie film adaptation of a critically acclaimed Broadway play.

Reprising his award-winning portrayal from the original Broadway production, Richard Griffiths plays Hector, a “General Studies” instructor teaching a class of eight boys expected to have a chance at entering England’s most prestigious universities. “General Studies” is a course with no apparent curriculum, allowing Hector the opportunity to move the class freely through intellectual pursuits involving singing, play acting and serious debate. Hector’s teaching methods are a bit unorthodox, but deeply engaging to the students. Griffiths manages enough idiosyncratic charisma and intricacy of personality to keep the character from falling into the cinematic stereotype of the controversial, inspiring teacher.

Teaching is far too dignified a profession to be bothered with the kind of flashy celebrity heaped upon other cinematic professions. If we’ve seen one Dead Poet’s Society or Mr. Holland’s Opus or Stand and Deliver or Dangerous Minds, we may have seen too many. Rather than follow these other films predictably, The History Boys adds to the inspirational teacher genre by sheer intellectual force. A film with the raw, unadulterated courage to feature an entire scene played out in French with no English subtitles has the courage to show pedagogical pursuits and those engaged in them with admirable complexity.

Pleased with the eight students’ potential, the school’s headmaster (a subtly comic Clive Merrison) enlists a young temporary instructor named Irwin (Stephen Campbell Moore) to help the students pass those intimidating tests and interviews they need to get through to be admitted into Oxford or Cambridge. Looking for time in the boys’ busy class schedules, the headmaster suggests pulling a few sessions away from Hector, setting-up conflict between the students, Irwin and Hector. Things get considerably more complicated for everyone involved when Hector is seen groping one of his students on the back of his motorcycle. Students learn from teachers. Teachers learn from students. None are as simple as they appear at first glance.

When History Boys explores sexuality, it’s not particularly novel. While it is still important to be drawing attention to the difficulties people encounter due to the stigma of homosexuality (particularly with politics being what they are in this country) it’s nothing that we haven’t seen in indie films countless times before. Where History Boys really leaves its mark is on the way it engages intellectually. Irwin has been asked to coach the students specifically on getting into good universities, so he’s teaching them to think critically with a specific goal in mind. Hector has been given an open bill to teach the students in any way he wants, so he’s teaching them to think critically out of a deep love for the examined life. Students are caught somewhere in the middle of it all trying to individually define themselves amidst the flurry of interest in their potential. What’s particularly refreshing here is that the students are all written and played sympathetically as complex people. The characterization strains credibility when Dakin (Dominic Cooper) hits on one of his teachers near the end of the film, but it’s a brief moment and a small price to pay to see a compelling portrayal of students who are drawn to be every bit as savvy as their teachers. VS