just a few minutes ago i saw the british comedy
THE HISTORY BOYS... directed by nicholas hytner, which is of course a total stranger to me... i do not remember nor do i know any of his films... being this the first time, i did not have any expectation for this movie... but this movie surely delivered and, probably still delivers its message...
this is about eight boys aho are eligible to enter into oxford or cambridge, to ensure that they would get their scholarship for their honor, but more for the school's honor, their headmaster required them to attend one more academic term to "polish the edges" included in their additional subjetcs are history lead by the only female lead Toti (played by Frances de la Tour, and yes, she played madamme maxine in harry potter), and Hector, (Played brilliantly by Richard Griffiths) was in charge of General studies, which he himself does not believe in, for he said "there is nothing general about knowledge, it is specific" Hector was in charge of teaching "culture" from prose to poetry and to the surprise of the headmaster, even pop songs and hollywood movies. and just to ensure the acceptance of these boys, the headmaster hired, as a temporary teacher, Irwin. Being the shrewed that he was, Irwin was in charge of "polishing the edges"
Nothing seems to be different nor interesting except for the fact that Irwin and Hector has a very different approach to teaching, Hector wants them "thoughtful" Irwin wants them "smart" (just to make this clear, thoughtful, as used in this context, is mindful or romantic so to speak. its british, dont ask me why?)
the movie, as was described before, is refreshing, because we seldom see movie that has this wit. (which now i think is very british, since most british movies i see are "witty") this was of course an adaptation from the theater, and most adaptations are, or should i say, are advised to rather stay as a play... but personally, i enjoyed the movie just the same... not only it is very witty, and is also very engaging, it left me wanting more, actualy i skipped a class, just to see for the second time... it is also very wel acted, which of course, is almost inherent, since all actors here came from the theater... this movie teaches a lot of lessons, but did not necessarily intend to be corny or cheesy about it, we heard all this cliches before, but this time it seems that it is actually worth remembering. This movie surely left me bewitched, bothered and bewildered...
"History" lessons
But what i really loved about this movie was the fact that it evokes from you a lot of emotions... but most of all it once again "disturb my peacee" as it reminded me of my Philosophy lessons. (i cannot say that i know anything about philosophy, even after 4 years of philo... i shoud have listened to my professors when they said, "read your books") there is this conflict of what should be the end of education, is it knowledge or success, is it to know or to pass... there is of course a conflict between Hector who wants his students to be "more well rounded as a person" while Irwin wants them to pass the exams, as he said "the only thing that will matter in your life" i cannot help but remeber all those existentialist or the phenomenologist, and of course rousseau... i believe Marcel did not want schooling, for it destroys the self, (rina, i dont remember Marcel, enlighten me one of these days) the true self, and this is what Hector was trying to tell his students, "i confused learning from the smell of old stone" that is why he did not choose to go to Ox-bridge... and who again said that he "wont let his schooling interfere with his education" ? he was teaching them poetry, both the traditional and the modern ones, like the song, "Bewitched" a student once said that it he does not understand poetry, hector answered, "what is important is you know, or learn it now, and when the moment you need it, you already have the antidote, happinness, grief..." Hector represents all those teachers and professors who taught us not about life, but taught us how to live life... whether it be robin williams of dead poet society, or michelle pfeiffer of dAangerous minds and whoopi goldberg in Sister act 2... Hector said that he only wanted to teach his students the love of literature, or the love of words... and included in it are the songs, the movies, and endings and the poems, as he said "calculated silliness"
Irwin, who failed to be accepted into Ox-Bridge, tries, or pushes the boys so hard. but what i like about his teachin is his sens of "derrida" he said, that the essays in exams are about what you know, not what you dont know" he said, dont write about things that arte already written, or popularly known, try to make a different story, instead of concurring with the majority, try to dissent... look at it at another angle, try to make it more interesting, dont make it dull... when they were talking about stalin, he said that stalin was already considered monster, so try to defend him , see his side... and althoug the word "deconstruct" was never mentioned, the whole point of the exercise was basically that, looking at it in a another way, another angle, another mirror... to him education is just a game... but his most important lesson is that "the best way to forget is to commemorate"
both professors came face to face in a class, the topic was holocaust, whether the holocaust would be a an appropriate topic Hector, said that it is not, for it is clearly inappropriate to talk about it, even the fact that people that go to auschiwtz, remember the dead, but they trake pictures, they smile, they do things inappropriate for remebrance... another contention was the word ETC, as it tries to reduce a lot of things, in this case those who died in mere small abbreviated letters... but the most familiar line was the sense of detachment, that in writing one should be detached, and yes i do remember Husserl, but Hector answered that is not history but journalism...
How does history happen, that is the clear question of the movie, there was no answer but "one fuckung thing after another" nothing significant, nothing big, just a simple thing, that is how history happens...
i have learned a lot, just by sitting for 2 hours in a movie house... but the whole time, i was imagining whjat could have happened if chose to go to school and not to the theater, that is what they call subjunctive history, a "dizzying array of alternatives" only there can we considered history learned...
its funny that i get to see this, and just a few days ago, i thought to myself that i miss reading about Philosophy, how one single sentence could mean a thousand different things and then another thousands for the dissent... and then this movie... witggenstein, niechtze, derrida, husserl, plato... they were mentioned... and i did miss them more...
"pass the parcel, sometimes, that is just what we can do, to take it, feel it, and pass it on to someone, somewhere, one day, pass it on" -Hector"Love... "love of words... "pain... the only education worth taking" -Hector
