Not Sweating the Small Stuff

'The History Boys' - A Good Film from a Good Play

The Characters: Lockwood (Andrew Knott), Dakin (Dominic Cooper) and Posner (Samuel Barnett)

It's brave in the current sexual political climate to make a mainstream film about, among other things, sex and the secondary school system - without re-playing the Spanish Inquisition!

'The History Boys' has the creds of being based on the Tony award-winning play by Alan Bennett. And perhaps has been made more 'acceptable' still by casting actors obviously in their twenties as the final year British school students.

It puts the other side of things - that late teenagers have sexual awareness and desire, and that a teacher can become infatuated with his student. Without in any way condoning sex between students or between them and their educators. As Samuel Barnett (the Posner character) has reiterated in interview.

The film also explores the issues around the function and process of education, mainly by counter-pointing safer conventional approaches and propositions with the more risky quirky, slick, off-beat, glibe, often self-consciously controversial ones. A lovely example realizing the latter 'playing the education game' is a progressive teacher's suggestion to make the argument in an Oxbridge entrance essay for Stalin being a great man.

A well-structured piece of drama. A great script. And a really good cast. 

Dominic Cooper is the student Dakin - dark, teasing, cocky, provocative and self-possessed and aware. Idolising his 23 year old teacher, Irvin (Stephen Campbell Moore) - declaring he'd 'never wanted to please anyone more than him ... girls not excepted'. With this essentially straight character wishing at the end of the film to reward his mentor - in an offer to be sucked off. A date is planned but does not eventuate.

The piece is obviously from the theatre and there has been the wise choice of maintaining that style of dialogue delivery - rather big and slightly exaggerated with those pauses between lines that seem somewhat unnatural away from the stage. It would probably disturb the original script too much to be more realistic.

And there has been the fortuitous selection of the lietmotif music of 'Bewitched (Bothered and Bewildered)' - sung originally by Rufus Wainwright and in this clip by the Lockwood character.

If you're interested in momentarily re-visiting this part of your life and all its issues, this piece is very well worth the look. I've looked several times already!!!

Anyone else seen it?

What were your reactions?