In 2008,
teachers, students and pupils were asked by Teachers TV to vote for
their favourite film that represented teaching in feature films. Over
100 films got a vote from 2,500 respondents, resulting in this Top Ten
of Great School Movies:
1. Dead Poets’ Society
2. Kes
3. School of Rock
4. The Breakfast Club
5. History Boys
6. To Sir With Love
7. Grease
8. Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
9. Gregory’s Girl
10. The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie
Two years earlier, The Book Marketing Society, in association with The
Guardian, conducted a national poll to find the best ever book to film
adaptation. The winner was To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, and
against strong competition, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel
Spark was included in the top fifty titles.
This shows the enduring impact of this film that centres on Miss Jean
Brodie’s flamboyant teaching style at the Marcia Blaine School for
Girls. In this austere setting Brodie (Maggie Smith) extols the virtues
of love, joy and freedom. She is a free spirit who wants her ‘Brodie
Girls’ to soar with her in flights of fancy away from the realities of
1930s Edinburgh.
Her presence seems like a fresh of breath air, but her own personal
life is as erratic as her allegiance to the school curriculum. She has
had a relationship with the Art teacher, Teddy Lloyd (Robert Stephens)
who cannot help himself from painting every subject with a face like
Brodie’s. He is a mediocre artist who uses art to seduce any young
woman (or girl) who comes his way. Brodie now spurns his advances in
favour of a more reliable teacher, Gordon Lowther played by Gordon
Jackson. He wants a steady life and routine, which is in complete
contrast to Lloyd.
Between these hapless men, all things Italian and most of all by
Mussolini infatuate Brodie. In this mix, her headmistress (Celcia
Johnson) is on the constant lookout to sack this wayward teacher who
just will not abide by the rules. Brodie knows that one day someone
will “assassinate” her; the surprise is that one of her most loyal
pupils is the one that plunges this metaphorical knife into her back.
Maggie Smith is outstanding as Brodie who never realises that her
romantic daydreaming can (and does) have tragic and real consequences.
She has a great supporting cast and the film drives along at a cracking
pace.
The new DVD of The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie will be released on 02
August 2010. It includes US trailers and filmographies.
