In this “caustically clever” Iron Curtain satire, an authoritarian teacher exploits her rank in the Communist Party to terrorize students and their parents.
“[An] intelligent and universally resonant crowd-pleaser…”
– Alissa Simon, Variety
“Tackles Czech history in a way that the whole world should watch….Effectively transposing 12 ANGRY MEN” into the most intense PTA meeting of all time, Jan Hrebejk’s “The Teacher” is a sardonic, richly seriocomic morality play.”
– David Ehrlich, IndieWire
“Polished and engaging….A dark satire about governance and human nature.”
– Ben Kenigsberg, The New York Times
“Caustically clever.”
– Aaron Hills, Village Voice
In a middle school classroom in Bratislava in 1983, a new teacher, Maria Drazdechova (Maurery), asks each student to stand up, introduce themselves and tell her what their parents do for a living. It slowly becomes clear that perhaps the pupils’ grades are related to how willing their guardians are open to helping her out with her errands, her housecleaning, and other random services.
After one of the students attempts suicide, however, the director of the school has no choice but to call for an emergency parents’ meeting to remove the teacher, but because Ms. Drazdechova is also a high-ranking official of the Communist Party, parents are hesitant to sign a petition to transfer her out. In a classroom behind the Iron Curtain, the future of all the families are at stake, as the film examines how each family must wrestle with standing up for what they believe in or silently keep the status quo. (C) Film Movement
