An 80s classic (Educating Rita (DVD))

Member Name: sunmeilan

Product:	Educating Rita (DVD)
Date:	23/08/06 (320 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: An educational rags to riches story; great acting

Disadvantages: Dodgy 80s music and fashion!

Unfortunately, there are very few British films that stick in my mind, but one that does is Educating Rita. I can’t remember the first time I saw it, but seeing it again reminded me of what a moving film this is and how aiming for and achieving a goal can change your life. It is very dated, but that doesn’t seem to matter, particularly with the acting skills of Julie Walters and Michael Caine thrown in to the mix along with an excellent screenplay.

The story
Rita is a 27 year old hairdresser married to Denny and expected by her father and husband to have children as quickly as possible. Rita, however, has other plans and wants to educate herself before she starts a family. Thus, she begins an Open University course in her spare time and is assigned a tutor, Dr Frank Bryant. Frank is a disenchanted university professor who drinks to excess and has a girlfriend who cheats on him.

Although the two initially clash, they slowly build up a relationship. Under Frank’s tutorage, Rita becomes more confident. Frank is deeply impressed by her, but still struggles with alcoholism and slowly begins to rely on Rita for his happiness. Can Rita finally shake off her working class roots and fit in with her peers? And will Frank be able to find a new lease of life?

The characters/actors
I don’t think that I have ever been disappointed by anything that Julie Walters has done and this role proves why she became such a well-known actress. She is excellent as Rita and plays the brassy hairdresser with a grim determination to further herself to perfection. Her fortitude is infectious and she really draws the audience in. There are two things that niggle. One is that she is supposed to be 27, but she looks about 10 years older. Another is the grating Liverpudlian accent. I’m not sure where Julie Walters originates from, it may even be Liverpool, but if this is the case, then she is exaggerating it just that little bit too much. On the whole though, there is very little to criticise about her performance in this film.

Michael Caine does an excellent job as Dr Frank Bryant. He is deeply depressed and disillusioned with life and drinks far too much, to the extent that he often turns up drunk to his lectures and narrowly avoids getting the sack. He is disparaging about everything in his life, including himself. He annoys Rita who cannot understand why he wants to throw his life away. I am generally a fan of Michael Caine, but this is one of his stronger roles – realistically playing a depressed drunk is extremely difficult, but he does it flawlessly.

Although her role is very small, Maureen Lipman, who played Rita’s house-mate, Trish, did a stunning job as a seemingly together young woman who is really deeply depressed and eventually tries to kill herself. This was so life-like that it had me in tears. I would never have guessed that it was Maureen Lipman – I always associate her with the BT adverts!

Technical bits

Classification: 15. I am actually quite surprised by this, because there is nothing sexual involved, although there is quite a lot of swearing. I’m sure that today it would be rated as 12.

Running time: 105 minutes

Conclusion
There is little to dislike about this film. It is a film about a working class girl who tries to change her life around – a sort of Cinderella story about education. It came out at a time when the working class was being persuaded to take university places, although universities were viewed by the general public as the homes of the upper class. The acting is fantastic, of course to be expected from two such talented actors. The screenplay by Willy Russell is superb – he clearly has a great talent for comic/tragic timing, which is then accentuated by the skills of the actors.

The film does seem old-fashioned. For a start, it is now less rare for those from the ‘working classes’ to not go to university. For another, it is desperately hard to believe that people, including me, used to have those awful hairdos and wear such disgusting clothes. What dates it even more is the dreadful electronic music that plays throughout the film. Nevertheless, despite the time in which it was set, Educating Rita is well worth watching and I highly recommend it.

I watched the film only version, but the DVD is available from play.com for £5.99.

Summary: Dated, but still a classic