Directed
by Nicholas Hytner
Written by Alan Bennett
Based on the play by Alan Bennett
Starring: Richard Griffiths, Frances de la Tour, Clive Merrison, Stephen
Campbell Moore, Dominic Cooper, Samuel Barnett, Russell Tovey.
112 minutes / certificate
15
The
History Boys sees writer Alan Bennett and director Nicholas Hytner
bring to the big screen Bennett’s multi–award winning stage
play about 8 history students pursuing university places at the hallowed
colleges of Oxford and Cambridge. Set in Sheffield in 1983, the brightest
boys at Cutler’s Grammar School sit an extra term after A –
Levels to be whipped into shape for the feared and revered Oxbridge
Entrance exam. Their Headmaster (Merrison), his pompous eyes firmly
on the prize of scholastic grandeur, is desperate for Cutler’s
to rank amongst schools regularly sending students off to England’s
two finest universities. Unbeknown to the other teachers, the traditional
but genial Mrs Lintott (de la Tour) and corpulent maverick Hector (Griffiths),
Headmaster hires supply teacher Irwin (Campbell Moore) to prime the
boys for academic glory.
Bennett
and Hytner return with the original cast that created the roles for
the 2004 theatre production, and the sell – out regional and world
tour that followed in 2005. Like their first collaborative stage to
screen venture, the Oscar nominated The Madness of King George,
The History Boys was first performed at The National Theatre,
London, where Hytner is artistic director. Whilst some of the roles
are expanded and additional minor characters added, Hytner and Bennett
have essentially transferred stage play to film set. All of this begs
the question: why bother adapting such a theatrical success so faithfully
for the screen?
Watching
The History Boys, these initial quibbles are quickly forgotten.
The cast know their roles so well, and the easy camaraderie of the boys
is engaging from the off. Nearly all of the action takes place in the
classroom, and the theatrical rhythm of much of the dialogue is suited
to this ‘staged’ setting. This is a film steeped in language:
the boys regularly recite poetry and literary testimony, absorbed by
osmosis from the English master Hector whose slightly dubious general
studies lessons provide some of the film’s most memorable moments.
Whilst much of the dialogue is linguistically far beyond the capabilities
of your average 18 year old, it sits comfortably alongside the quips
and attitudes of adolescent boys obsessed with sport and sex. Peppered
with rich quotations – “gobbets” as Irwin calls them
– the film resonates with Bennett’s own love for the poetry
of W.H Auden, Thomas Hardy and John Keats.
The
History Boys is ultimately an exploration of the frustrations,
joys and emotions embedded within the giving and receiving of knowledge.
Hector, wonderfully played by Griffiths, uses often hilarious methods
to enable the boys to understand that any knowledge, from the sublime
to the downright ridiculous, is precious. His pederastic tendencies
and “appreciative rather than investigatory” groping of
the boys riding pillion on his motorcycle are seen as harmless, a joke
even, and cunningly avoided with a strategically placed Tudor Economics
textbook. The scene in which the boys practise conversational French
by acting out a visit to a bordello is laugh out loud funny, and although
the boys clearly consider Hector to be “a sad fuck”, there
is a sense of warm joviality towards him. Irwin, with his renegade tricks
intended to put a dazzling spin on tired historical arguments, is initially
regarded with suspicion. Before long the boys lean towards his methods,
but the good looking and arrogant Dakin, played with just the right
amount of swagger and deviance by Dominic Cooper, feels frustrated in
his attempts to gain approval from the new teacher. Dakin is worshipped
from afar by the other strongest of the boy characters, the sensitive
but precocious Posner (Barnett). Unfulfilled longings are played out
to comic and poignant effect. Two moments that especially stick are
Posner’s singing ‘Bewitched’ to a disgruntled Dakin,
and the touching lesson where Hector and Posner reflect upon their respective
sadness through a recitation of Thomas Hardy’s poem Drummer
Hodge.
The
History Boys has an enormous heart, is chock full of pith and genuinely
entertaining throughout. It’s thought provoking stuff too, questioning
the need to gain approval and acceptance alongside the reasons for the
pursuit of knowledge. As Hector muses upon the reverence of ‘words’
within academia, it becomes clear that this is a film less about what
words mean and more about what they can do, what they can express outside
the chalk dusty school environs. Any last thoughts about The History
Boys have to be attributed to Rudge (Tovey), the rugby loving ‘boy
least likely’: “History…it’s just one fucking
thing after another.”
The
History Boys is in cinemas from 13th October 2006.
by
Elinor Pearson
The
History Boys
More
videos
The History Boys
Synopsis
The History Boys
Alan Bennett Interview
Official
Site
thehistoryboysmovie.co.uk
