Rick’s Flicks Picks » This Weekend’s Film Festival Celebrates The Power of Education

This Weekend’s Film Festival Celebrates The Power of Education

30 07 2008

Inspired by Denzel Washington’s sophomore directing effort THE GREAT DEBATERS, This Weekend’s Film Festival looks at films that showcase the power of education. The inspiration for this week’s lineup deals with African American debaters in the 1930s. There’s a film that teaches us about living life to the fullest. There’s a film that deals with the pressures of an Ivy League education. There’s a film that teaches us about the power of language. There’s a film about the freeing power of knowledge. So take a seat and sign up for this inspiring collection of films.

The Friday night feature is THE GREAT DEBATERS. As I said in my original review, “In an American climate where the dumbing down of every aspect of culture is pervasive, this is the kind of inspiring tale we need. We see inspirational sports films roll out every year, but often a good educational film can be infinitely more uplifting.” This film actually mixes the conventions of sports and school stories, using the framework of an underdog sports film. Melvin Tolson (Washington) is the strict couch of the debate team for an all black college. He selects only four students for his team, which include hard living Henry (Nate Parker), fiery Samantha (Jurnee Smollett), 14-year-old James (Denzel Whitaker) and conservative, returning debater Hamilton (Jermaine Williams). More than a film about overcoming race, the picture showcases the power of education to lift up lives. In capturing the compelling nature of heated debates, the film also addresses the key social debates of the era in an engaging fashion. Lead by a stellar cast, this production captures the heart while stimulating the mind at the same time.

Beginning the Saturday lineup, DEAD POETS SOCIETY might be one of the first films that come to mind when one thinks about education films. The inspiring teacher at the center of the bittersweet tale is John Keating, played in an Oscar-nominated performance by Robin Williams. Set in 1959 at a conservative prep school, the students of Keating’s class are encouraged to seize the day and think for themselves. As I said in my original review, “Keating is a great teacher not necessarily because of how he teaches or what he teaches, but because he cares.” Roommates Todd (Ethan Hawke) and Neil (Robert Sean Leonard) are shy and outgoing, respectively. Keating encourages both young men to get past their reservations and live their lives for themselves. Director Peter Weir fills the film with the idyllic passion of youth. Driven by the motto of the Dead Poets Society, the young men set out to suck the marrow out of life and remind the audience to live each day as if it were their last.

THE PAPER CHASE closes the Saturday lineup. Like DEAD POETS SOCIETY, this 1973 film was nominated for a Best Picture Oscar. James Hart (Timothy Bottoms) is a first-year law student at Harvard, and over the course of the story we see him grappling with his love-hate relationship with his distant and strict, but brilliant, teacher Charles Kingsfield, played by John Houseman in an Oscar-winning performance. Minus any melodrama, the film watches closely the dauntingly competitive world of high stakes education. It’s an environment where smart students will first taste failure and many will not make it past the term. Houseman’s Kingsfield keeps a cool distance from his students, or does he? As I said in my recent review, ” In lesser films, the demanding teacher would berate the underachievers, but Kingsfield just moves on. He saves his quips for students who challenge him…” Hart becomes obsessed with knowing and challenging the man who wrote the book on contract law, which puts a severe strain on his relationship with Susan (Lindsay Wagner), Kingsfield free-spirited daughter. This movies shows how a tough teacher can push a student to not only learn about the subject in class, but about themselves as well.

The Sunday films might not be movies that you think of right away when you think of education films. The first is Leslie Howard’s PYGMALION. This 1938 classic was not the first or the last screen adaptation of George Bernard Shaw’s popular play. Howard not only co-directed the film with Anthony Asquith, but also stars as the prickly Professor Henry Higgins. Wendy Hiller co-stars as Eliza Doolittle, the guttersnipe that Higgins challenges himself to pass off as a princess. When it comes to education, the key element is that Eliza seeks out Prof. Higgins, wanting to better herself. Higgins is a prig of the first degree, treating a flower girl and princess like they were both paupers. He uses his education to rule over everyone he meets. As I said in my original review, “After her transformation, Eliza laments that when she was poor she sold flowers, but never herself. Now that she’s a lady, she’s not fit to sell anything else. The statement encapsulates the entire meaning of the story, while saying so much about the double standards of our society that still exist in some form today.” The transforming effects of education have never been more powerful portrayed on screen than they are in this funny and smart production.

The Oscar-nominated GOOD WILL HUNTING closes This Weekend’s Film Festival. Again we find Robin Williams, this time winning an Oscar for his performance as a psychologist who helps a troubled genius open up. Matt Damon and Ben Affleck’s Oscar-winning screenplay tells the tale of Will Hunting (Damon) a self-taught Math prodigy who clings to his working class roots as a safety net, while using his superior intelligence as a weapon. Who can ever forget the bar scene where a dazzling use of words puts a pretentious bully in his place? As I said in my original review, “Every character gets their moment, which helps Will’s growth. This film is a textbook case of great writing without desperately sticking to given structures, relying on the characters.” Like THE GREAT DEBATERS and PYGMALION, this film shows the power of education to lift people out of a lower class, however the unique twist on this theme is that Hunting doesn’t want to be lifted up. Much like the Saturday films, Gus Van Sant’s emotionally powerful drama shows a mentor guiding a young man to a better understanding of themselves. These two aspects come together in a captivating tale that mixes poignant drama with laugh-out-loud humor effortlessly.

So tell me have I passed the final with these picks? To enroll in This Weekend’s Film Festival, head to the video store, update the rental queue, check out Zap2It.com for TV listings, or help support the site by buying the films on DVD at the below links.