1984 Bafta Best Film (Educating Rita (DVD))

Member Name: TigerTiger

Product:	Educating Rita (DVD)
Date:	07/02/01 (627 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Top quality acting,great insight into lifeand

Disadvantages: None really, although may not appeal to those into action films.

The one word that I would use to describe Educating Rita is simply "outstanding'. Educating Rita was made into a film in 1983 after being an extremely popular play and stage production written by Willy Russell. It stars Michael Caine and Julie Walters, two of Britain's greatest (in my opinion and in Juliie Walters case often underestimated) as Rita and Frank. Both went on to win Bafta's for their roles in 1984 and the film won the title of best film in the same year.

Rita is 26 and married to Denny, they are a working class couple living in a small two up town down terraced house and you get the impression that they have been together since they were quite young. Rita works in a hairdressers where people present her with pictures of Princess Diana and ask her to work miracles! Danny meanwhile, has a job, spends his time trying to do up their house and wants a baby. Rita however does not want a baby, she has far greater aspirations., she wants to better herself, to be someone.

Rita thus makes the decision to enroll on an Open University literature course, she is asssigned Dr Frank Bryant as her tutor and here enters Frank (MIchael Caine) into her life. Frank lives with another lecturer Julia who is considerably younger than himself (who is also actually having an affair with another man), remains disillusioned with life and is a drunk!! As a failed yet talented writer he has reached the stage where his bookcase doubles as a drinks cabinet and he turns up to his lectures drunk and abuses his students who he has started to despise.

From the day Rita and Frank first meet you can tell that they are going to have a great impact on each others lives, with the hilariously funny moment when she first goes to meet him and he keeps calling her to come into his office, but she can't as the door is stuck (obviously you have to watch the movie to appreciate its full hilarity). Frank sees her as another student and already fed up
with the majority of traditional age students who he feels are not really there to learn, he turns her away saying that he cannot teach her and he will find someone else. However, Rita as feisty as ever refuses to accept this decision and instead tells him she will be coming back to see him as he is her tutor and that she will bring her scissors next time to give him a haircut!! That she does, complete with oil can to fix his door, Rita and Frank's complex relationship thus begins.

Rita finds that education is a lot harder than she imagines and she looks at the all the other students and feels that she will never do it. After many initial setbacks she starts to really get into literature and poets and authors that take her into a whole other world. She mixes with the students, changes her dress sense, her hairstyle a fair few times, goes to summwer school and gains confidence to make her start challenging Franks opinions and ultimately this causes tension. One of the most powerful scenes is the one where they have an argument and Rita shouts at Frank, "What you can't bear is that i'm educated now". There is no doubt some essence of truth in this, although I think it is mostly that at times he doesn't like what she has become and he feels in some way responsible for her transformation.

Meanwhile, Denny continues to want a baby and unknown to him Rita continues to take her contraceptive pills and he just can't understand as "the men in his family only have to look at a girl and she is pregnant". As fate I guess takes control whilst doing DIY he finds her pills under the floorboard and when she arrives home he proceeds to burn all her books and work and this for me was one of the most emotional scenes (one of many though), Rita watches through the window as he burns them, with powerful music playing as they burn and for that minute she watches everything she worked at burn away. Consequently, Denny and Rit
a are not destined to stay together and Rita goes off to live with the eccentric yet educated and interesting Trish (Maureen Lipman).

It is so hard to write about films and not give away all of the plot. However, the film primarily revolves around the relationship between Rita and Frank, although never romantic in the film, they both have such impact on each other and there is a definite sexual tension between them. You really have to watch the film to appreciate how they alter the course of each others lives. Frank feels that he has nothing left to teach Rita, yet she feels that he has everything that she wants to know.

The sad thing that struck me with this film is that there is a constant theme of how sometimes those people who appear to have everything and are happy are not, it is all a front. One of the best examples to illustrate this is the scene in which Denny and Rita go out with her mum and dad as well as her younger sister and her fiance, they are all sitting in a pub and they have all leant this song and are singing away. Yet in the middle of it Rita watches her mother, who she has always looked at as having a happy marriage and being content and yet she is crying and after the evening Rita so poignently concludes that there has to be a better song to sing that this. For me, although most of that scene is with poeple singing away with Rita thinking over the top of it, there is real sadness there that touches you. A further example of this would be when Rita's new flatmate Trish , who seemingly has everything, style, education, friends, a nice flat attempts suicide. Rita who finds her finds this very hard as she was always someone that she looked up to and even tried to imitate (if you have watched the film will you ever forget the "wouldn't you simply die without Mala(?) Frank" line) and she has to face the fact that is in an act and like her she is also wanting a better life.

There are many quite sad aspe
cts to this film,yet it also has some comical moments as well, usually with Frank being drunk and falling over, although Julia's decepion and the coming out of her affair is quite amusing too. I think that the reason that I love this film so much is that it has some of the best character portrayal that I have ever seen. Willy Russell has created characters in Frank and Rita that you learn to care about and that for me signifies excellent writing.

The film was made in 1984 and there are no startling special effects, not even any major action, just a story of a woman fighting for a better life and the complkexities of real life, not Hollywood life. To be honest it is quite dated now, Michael Caine wears dodgy suits, Julie Walters has 80's haircuts and the students all look like 80's students. However, it does remain an excellent film and I don't see that as mattering as it is overcome by an excellent script and rapport between the characters.

The ending, well of course I am not going to come right out and give it away for any readers that have not seen the film. However, I remain sad at the ending, not because it is in anyway bad, but because I think you learn to care for the characters and you would like a fairy tale ending, however how better to portray real life I guess, as life doesn't always have a fairytale ending.

Most people will have watched this film I am guessing as it has frequently been shown on television, however if you haven't rent or by the video as this is British film at its best and you can see why it was voted best British film in 1984.

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