Watch A Teacher For Free

ridiculous rating

recommended

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

Seeing this movie was a terrible, excruciating experience, but since I'm very hopeful and optimistic person, I watched it all the way through, hoping until the very end it's just about to provide something. Anything. It didn't. This completely failed as a showcase of character study. If anything, it's a perfect study of how movies should not be made. Ever! First of all, the story practically didn't have any development. The teacher-student relationship is a given thing from the get go and the only observation you can safely make is that she's a lot into him, but his motivation is completely ignored. Is it flattering for him? Does he prefer older girls? Is he happy? Is it only physical/fun for him? Temporary, even? Well, I have nothing against unorthodox film-making, but just because a film aspires to be fancy-shmancy artsy-fartsy all-independent, it may not - and doesn't - serve an excuse for boring the audience to sleep with a completely flat story and shortage of content. In fact, this feels like a shopping spree with empty shopping cart leaving past cash-desk. Boo-hoo, an end of a terrible ride. Finally!

Hannah Fidell's directorial feature debut, 'A Teacher', is a disturbing film that has a brilliant performance from Lindsay Burdge. From the sulking score, to the long camera shots, this forbidden and illegal sexual tale spins out of control fast, but has a heavy psychological tone as we watch our main character descend into a steep downward spiral of madness and obsession.Burdge plays Diana, a high school teacher who seems to be a loner outside the classroom, but once in class, she opens up and is very charismatic. We are thrown into the middle of Diana's illicit relationship with one of her students, Eric (Will Brittain). We do not see how it all started, and we see scene after scene of the two having sex in different places whether it be in a car at night, Diana's house when her roommate is out for the night, or at Eric's parent's ranch house near Austin, TX.The pair seem to have the same feelings for one another, however the only thing we really see is a sexual relationship, though we clearly see that Diana is emotionally stunted and needs to have some gap filled in with this torrid affair. She even allows Eric to take control in the bedroom. soon we see that Eric is her whole life as she becomes very distant from her roommate and colleagues at school and when her brother comes into town, she quickly shuts down and leaves him sitting at the restaurant. It's evident that her affair isn't the first of its kind. When her roommate invites her to a party of people their own age, she wants to leave as soon as she gets there and spends the little time there texting Eric and looking at his pictures. It's become an unhealthy obsession now.After an exposing photo makes the rounds at school of a freshman girl posing topless, Diana becomes scared and asks Eric to delete all of the photos from his phone that she has sent. Once this happens, she begins to question herself and her actions, but still continues on. When an employee of Eric's ranch house almost catches the two of them in the deed, Diana calls the relationship off, but her unnatural obsession and sickness cannot be controlled, which leads to some very unfavorable moments, making the audience scream out "Nooo."Fidell's camera-work is impressive and reminded me of Darren Aronofsky's 'The Wrestler' as we see the steady-cam shot from the back of Diana as she walks through the school and on her jogs completely alone. It's very unsettling. Brittain plays the student lover very well as we never see him brag to his friends of his conquest, nor is he at all an annoying teenager or obnoxious. He is actually quite charming, level-headed, and always plays it cool, even when things spiral out of control. And then there is Burdge who does a phenomenal job in her role as she tries to box up her unnatural feelings all the while she seems wears her heart on her sleeve when it comes to her young lover.What keeps this film from being great is its repetitiveness. It's a slow descent into a psychotic obsession that shows the same thing scene after scene of the two character having sex, only in different locations. If there was a bit more character exploration, then 'A Teacher' would have received an A. But due to its inconsistencies a flaws it receives a C for effort and acting.

The production company, the screenwriter and anybody else who approved this meaningless piece of garbage should be barred from the movie industry. I am that serious! This is beyond ridiculous. Very few movies made me angry this much I am warning you, do not watch this movie if you don't want to feel sorry for wasting 90 minutes of your life when the movie ends.There's absolutely zero character development. Nada. Zilch. Story does not progress at all. Actually, there is no story. The characters are extremely boring, and all there's to it is a little bit of skin here and there with the most absurd and ridiculous sound track. It is unbelievable how trashy the score is. I would get it if this was a thriller or a horror movie but hearing the music while a couple is having... makes you say what the...?Do yourself a favor. Do not even think about watching this crap. Trust me, you will be glad you didn't.

This is a film in A Teacher that is nudging itself, trying to be set free from the restraints and the shortcomings of the finished product. The film trying to break free is a deep, involved character study on a teacher-student relationship that functions because of deep conversation and a mutual understanding between parties. The film we get is an interesting albeit mostly flat examination of an unremarkable teacher-student affair that strides along with sporadic hardships and ends in predictable calamity.Hannah Fidell wanders into mumblecore territory here, as she directors and pens the film about Diana Watts (Lindsay Burdge), a high school English teacher, in her thirties or so, who has been flirting and hanging around with student Eric Tull (Will Brittain). The two hang out frequently - mostly in each others homes so being spotted in public isn't possible - and both enjoy each others company, personality, and intimacy. It doesn't take long, however, for Diana's paranoia to nearly get the best of her, as she tries to keep their relationship closeted, even as Eric begins to turn the other cheek to her at some points.Immediately, this is a story that needs to be told, and this film ostensibly will humanize and maybe justify a teacher-student relationship. However, Fidell unfortunately keeps things too heavily nuanced to be insightful and too subtle to evoke much commentary or humanity. There isn't much to Diana or Eric, and their relationship seems more existent because it's a taboo and it's not normative. There's no real indicator on why they're together in the first place. We don't see why Eric has captured her eye, as he is just a typical, faceless high school teenager that comes to class everyday, does his work, and is quietly anxious sexually. There's no justification as to why Diana would want to date a student, or Eric in particular, seeing as if someone found out it could irreparably scar her reputation and put her out of a job.The film I was hoping A Tacher would be featured extensive dialog to develop each character, dialog in the way of both of them talking about why they like each other enough to carry out a dangerous relationship under the noses of classmates and the school administration, and had deeply intimate, satisfying sex. This would be a four star film. The film we have here is one with minimal dialog in the way of characters, a shallow, limited view on why these two would want to be together, and relatively simple sex scenes captured by a grim camera that knows no color scheme other than black or very, very gray.Having said all this, the film does in fact feature a strong lead performance by Lindsay Burdge, whose teacher character is made a sympathetic character, even with out much develop towards her. We can see that she thinks something of this relationship - whatever that may be - and she would be pained deeply if something wrong were to happen with it. If the film didn't have Burdge at the center, at least trying to provide some sort of clarity the character's motivations in this relationship, this would've been a complete misfire.A Teacher is a serviceable, but overly-simple look at a subject that needs strong care and attention to be made human. The characters should've been more identifiable, the sex should've been more powerful and shocking considering the age gap, and the drama should've been thicker. The only thing I thought A Teacher was doing, by the end of it, was simply trying to push transgressive boundaries for the sake of doing so; not because it had something genuinely enlightening or strong to say.Starring: Lindsay Burdge and Will Brittain. Directed by: Hannah Fidell.