The author who's autobiography this is based hated this film thinking it horribly sentimental. It is a little sentimental but not of course anything like as sentimental as Goodbye Mr Chips - what comes across is realism, a colour snapshot of the East End in 1967. It's hardly the summer of love of the swinging sixties but that only existed for a handful of people. This is how England was for most people. It might not look as mean and nasty and "realistic" as some people might expect compared with these days but it seems pretty realistic and authentic to me.
Something refreshing about this film is it's treatment of racism - or rather it not really bothering about it. It would have been easy to focus on that issue but that is not what this film (unlike the book) is about. It's a film about a teacher who can make a difference. It doesn't matter what colour he is, what's initially important is that he's ostensibly from a more privileged class than his pupils. In one scene for example he's accused of being posh. It's the kids who think that they're the ones being prejudiced against.
The acting is great and the direction is fresh allowing the characters to develop as their protective layers are peeled away. Perhaps the speed of these miraculous transformations is a little unbelievable but that can be forgiven with just a 90 minute run time.
Overall, it's a positive and uplifting film ....plus it's also got one of the greatest pop songs of the day in it.
Something refreshing about this film is it's treatment of racism - or rather it not really bothering about it. It would have been easy to focus on that issue but that is not what this film (unlike the book) is about. It's a film about a teacher who can make a difference. It doesn't matter what colour he is, what's initially important is that he's ostensibly from a more privileged class than his pupils. In one scene for example he's accused of being posh. It's the kids who think that they're the ones being prejudiced against.
The acting is great and the direction is fresh allowing the characters to develop as their protective layers are peeled away. Perhaps the speed of these miraculous transformations is a little unbelievable but that can be forgiven with just a 90 minute run time.
Overall, it's a positive and uplifting film ....plus it's also got one of the greatest pop songs of the day in it.