The Teacher

We have to help each other in a Czechoslovakian way. Although I can't shake the feeling that it would work better on the stage, I don't regret the time invested. And I wouldn't regret even more if the Jarchovský/Hřebejk duo once had been backed by a clear storyline. It is not directed as a story from beginning to end, but there are rather individual separate "bachelor's" segments, where every twenty minutes are devoted to one family and then the focus is on another one, without ever returning to the previous ones. It is also a pity that the children are sidelined after a while. The reason why it works so well in spite of the above is that the situation and its solution from the point of view of individual families is played out interestingly, that what Jarchovský spoils in terms of plot, is made up with dialogs and the fact that the performances of unknown cast is amazing. In other words, that is the most sad is the opportunity of the final part was completely wasted. (15/12/2016)

A decent drama set in the time of totalitarianism with a slightly cynical tone and the chilling message of “they are still among us”. Zuzana Mauréry excels and, of the rest of the cast, the wrestler as the “hero of the people” stands out the most. The film is well written and Hřebejk skilfully directs the subtle, mostly negative character conflicts between the protagonists. However, the exaggerated nature of the film comes across as a bit like a TV movie and doesn’t delve into the wounds of the past with much force. Next to other cases of unscrupulous conduct seen in the given period, this story is actually rather banal. (16/10/2020)

I’m really glad that Jan Hřebejk still has it in him, but then I truly don’t get why the quality of his recent movies is faltering as much as it is. Once, I get an unexpectedly good movie, other times I get the feeling like I’m watching someone else’s work, even if the directing and the script are done by the same people. However, I’ll stop complaining since I’d love to gush about the great idea of shooting this movie with almost exclusively Slovakian actors. Zuzana Mauréry’s character of the teacher was absolutely perfectly repulsive and the era the story is set in only adds to the repulsiveness. Petr Bebjak, on the other hand, plays a completely unspectacular character, but once he starts talking about his wife, you can tell that he’s given it his all. In the first half, I was getting used to the story, but the second half of the movie is so full of emotions that it was hard to banish them after the movie ended. It was a great movie. (16/11/2017)

The Bratislava Křeč Theater Association presents: didactic theater from history. Structure: Němý Bobeš (that's how it was!). Acting: Attention, now I have a speech and I take a stand. Method: simplify, repeat three times, write it on the board. Regarding this attempted drama of conscience, go conscientiously stab yourselves, gentlemen. A new bottom. #kviff2016 (05/07/2016)

The biggest problem with The Teacher is actually that it exists at all. Not so much because of the Hřebejk/Jarchovský duo's already rather tired dwelling on criticism of normalization, but because of the fact that in an age where the problem is more likely to be a quivering teacher who knows that for every bullet he dodges, he’s approximately three minutes away from a bullet in an MMS from the parents, a theme about the tyranny of parents and children by an educator is somehow unnecessary. Hřebejk has a way with actors, settings, props, and the period stuffiness of normalization. He often uses medium close-ups and close-ups of the warring parties, building a good illusion of a small/big problem. The interior furnishings don't look like clean props worn from a warehouse onto the set, but rather build a good illusion of the prefab hell of trapped families. Unfortunately, every now and then one of the characters turns a page in the script and starts coughing up paper so vehemently that it easily wakes you from the context and starts trending Jarchovský invective, but the whole perverse variation on 12 Angry Men where, instead of a black boy, the men of character are arguing over whether 5.A will have a substitute instead of the old communist Drazdechová, I find it telling of the coldness of the pre-revolutionary society whose cross we still bear. And I find the payoff of the anonymous signing line after you've abstained from the whole decision-making process quite apt and amusing. (11/05/2017)