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Tuesday, 02 January 2007 13:57 |
 By COBY MANGUM
Brimming with extraordinarily clever dialogue and memorable one-liners, "The History Boys" is a film so funny that you at times forget how thought-provoking it is.
The big-screen version of Alan Bennettës wildly successful 2004 play offers an insightful look at intellectual society, academia and homosexuality. The film is also to be lauded for inviting the viewer into its philosophical debates while at the same time producing legitimate laughs.
Bennettës
script doesnët stray far from the play and is, therefore, very heavy on
dialogue. The story, however, following eight English schoolboys in
their final term before college, is never dull. Fantastic wordplay and
pitch-perfect wit in the exchanges between the boys and their
instructors give scenes their own kind of action and, oftentimes,
grandiosity.
The animated
teaching style of Professor Hector (Richard Griffiths), in particular,
lends itself to the sort of over-the-top and pompous way of delivering
lines that is a known trademark in British comedy. His way of preparing
the schoolës top students for their Oxford and Cambridge entrance exams
is to teach them poems and show tunes, creating in the classroom a
colorful and loose atmosphere in which the boys direct their own
learning.
The filmës
humor, at its best in these scenes, thankfully fluctuates between the
high-brow ÇƒÓ Hector calling one of his students "a foul, fluttering
little trollop" ÇƒÓ to the low ÇƒÓ him following that by striking a student
over the head with rolled-up paper.
On the other
side of the coin is Professor Irwin (Stephen Campbell Moore), hired by
the schoolës headmaster specifically to groom the boys for the
prestigious universities they hope to attend. Irwin is a young teacher
who stresses quantifiable results and usefulness in education ǃÓ
signifying a new breed of instruction that will replace the methods of
those like Hector.
Bennett uses the
divergence between the teachersë priorities to raise the question of
where art and emotion fit into history. Irwin teaches detachment from
the subject, at one point even asking his students, "Whatës truth got
to do with anything?" Hector reverses that opinion when he wonders,
"Why canët they just tell the truth?" as the boys prepare for their
college interviews.
This conflict
creates many moments that are surprisingly provocative for a film
thatës relatively light on the whole. Bennett is able to create very
real emotional moments in his comedy, particularly after it becomes
apparent that Hector has latent romantic feelings for some of his
students.
Director
Nicholas Hytner keeps the pace rapid and makes some excellent choices
with music (1980s fans will likely appreciate the soundtrack) to
overcome the fact that the movie is set almost entirely within the
school. The film never drags; if anything it might move a little too
fast in its opening ÇƒÓ introducing each character simultaneously.
With all eight
of the students thrown into the spotlight at the onset, differentiating
them seems like it could be a taxing effort for the viewer. Itës a
testament to Hytnerës quick camera and Bennettës masterful
characterization, however, that each of the boys soon emerges as a
unique player in the film.
The minor
shortcomings of Bennettës story lie mostly in the predictability of its
plot ÇƒÓ a common problem in drama. Though it suffers from being a bit
too tidy at times, exceptional acting and characters keep "The History
Boys" compelling. Viewers will sympathize with nearly everyone in the
movie, a true achievement considering that comedies tend to rely on
flattish characters and one-dimensional relationships.
ï
Coby Mangum works for the Daily Planet.
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