Educating Rita (1983)

Rita As Student And Teacher

Educating Rita is a funny and enjoyable movie that is difficult to classify. On the one hand, this is definitely light-hearted fare that tries not to take anything too seriously. Yet on the other hand, this is really good! I am not sure if one could call this a masterpiece per se. But if it isn't a masterpiece it's pretty darned close to one. This is the most fun movie I've seen in a long time.

The Cast

The cast members of this movie deserve special mention because they really are the difference maker. Michael Caine is very good as the professor, which is not surprising considering his track record.

But Julie Walters as Rita steals every scene. Her boisterous personality is endearing and amusing. It is a perfect complement to his mostly conventional performance. It's even more impressive considering her prior experience was mostly in the theatre. Indeed, that year she was nominated for the BAFTA award for "Most Outstanding Newcomer To Film."

I have also seen other films with Julie Walters where she doesn't have *the accent.* Her cockney accent in this film is almost a character in and of itself. It's very effective in creating a sense of her character as a free-spirited and salt-of-the-earth personality. And it also makes some of her simple lines very funny.

Incidentally, in 1984 this pair were each nominated for best actor and best actress awards by the Academy. While neither won the Oscar, they each won the respective Golden Globe and BAFTA awards. Of course, it would have been quite a coup to win the Oscar in that year, since they were each up against Jack Nicholson and Shirley MacLaine for their incredible performances in Terms of Endearment, another great picture. I am glad I didn't have to cast the vote in that year, considering what a difficult choice it would have been to make.

Even if the entire cast consisted of those two alone, this would be an award worthy performance. But the additional supporting cast is also good, though they can't stand out from the shadows of those two.

The Story and the Script

Speaking of awards, Willy Russell was also nominated for Best Screenplay, Adaptation. Once again, Terms of Endearment took the Oscar in that category but "Educating Rita" was nominated by every significant awards organization.

While I won't comment on the worth of the adaptation versus the original, the script does follow that common formula of Pygmalion, where a woman is taken under the wing of a man in the attempt to "civilize" her. Yet in his role as teacher, Caine's character is quickly bested by Rita. It appears that he is the one who has much to learn from her.

Most of the beauty in the screenwriting is found in the sharp and witty dialogue shared by this pair. The writing is indeed intimate and effective. I often found myself laughing unexpectedly.

While the plot itself must to a degree be described as "predictable," the artful way the story is developed is definitely the hallmark of good writing and direction.

Conclusion

This film is a beautiful and funny statement on life and personal growth. The dialogue will make you laugh, the performances will leave you in awe and the total result will make you want to watch this one again and again. I highly recommend this movie for all those who haven't seen it yet.

Enjoy!
October 3, 2008

An Excellent Movie

It's intelligent, insightful, and very funny. Brilliant performances by Julie Walters and Michael Caine in a story that you wish was true. I see very little that can be improved here, and it's one of those very rare films that I'll put back on my little shelf to watch again later. August 4, 2008

Educating Rita

Educating Rita
"Educating Rita" is in my personal top five movies of all time. Although labeled a romantic comedy I think that this movie is in a class by itself and defies categorization. I have a definite academic bent and this Oscar nominated, Lewis Gilbert directed, 1983 film still strikes a deep chord though I've watched it over and over.

Frank(Michael Caine), a divorced and bored-with-life alcoholic professor, just "happens" to be assigned as a personal tutor for the lovely vibrant working-class Rita(Julie Walters).

Rita shoots straight from the hip and is so lovely and full of life that she won't take no from Frank and thus starts her subtle metamorphosis from "uneducated" to "educated". However, in her process of transition Frank finds that he has created a monster, from his point of view(he refers to Shelley's Frankenstein), as Rita takes on the groomed academic veneer that she so desperately covets and Frank so openly despises.

During Rita's "education" a love subtly grows between the two and always lurks just below the surface. Rita is a "looker" and her natural beauty coupled with her delightful frankness sparks a constant longing inside of Frank.

This DVD begs the question...just what is real education? Is it the simple mouthing of academic platitudes from a learned and cultivated rote or is it lighting the spark of investigation inside of someone so that they may excel in life, and love? For the answer to that you need to buy this DVD or at least rent it somewhere :) and find out for yourself! July 20, 2008

Don't get above your raising

In Educating Rita, we find a woman, working as a hairdresser, who wants to better herself (played by Julie Walters). More than anything she wants to learn, not to put herself above family and friends, but from a desire to know, to see what else there is in the world that she can do and be.Unfortunately, everyone in her life finds the evolving Rita not to their liking, especially her husband.

Working and studying and coping with a husband who demands children are not easy for Rita. Things get particularly tense when the husband finds that she has been taking birth control pills behind his back. He burns her books (gifts from her tutor, Frank, played by Michael Caine) and her essay and forces her to decide if it's worth the effort after all. Not wanting to be trapped in a life in which she has never felt that she belongs, she pursues her studies, becoming more alienated in the process. Only Frank encourages her, in spite of his nearly constant alcoholic haze, and she finds her place among other students and while reading great literature, sometimes with her own quirky interpretations.

Even there, however, she doesn't quite fit in. Perhaps it's only in her own mind that she is not one with the academic world and those who reside there, but in the end she is happier and still yearning to learn.

This really is a marvelous story and one movie that any adult returning to school to pursue a degree should see. There are pitfalls and people who will try to discourage someone eager to gain that education. This movie is highly recommended. June 10, 2008

BRILLIANT

This flick, with it's small ensemble caught me by surprise on re-run TV, a few years after its release, and I never forgot it. I was never a Micheal Caine fan, and was new to Walters. She won me over instantly, and this is now my favorite movie of all time, really because of her perormance, and of course the story. Basically, It's Pygmaleon, reborn. A working class "My Fair Lady" so to speak. Rita, a hairdresser without an education signs on for a course at a university, in an attempt to better her life, against the wishes of her "women should be pregnant and barefoot in the kitchen" husband, Denny. Frank, a burnt out teacher with a penchant for whiskey, in overindulgence is her teacher. As the movie unfolds, He teaches her literature, she teaches him lessons in life. Eventually they both grow because of it. Rita in an attempt to change herself superficially, dubs herself Susan. She is a clean slate. Frank, Jaded and bitter, thinks she is better as the whimsical hairdresser, and balks at teaching her, in fear of her become like the other students he has. In the end he does, and she does change, but she also changes him. Her marriage crumbles because of her quest at rebirth, his career crumbles because of his drinking, and both are left with a new road ahead. It could have been so easy for another writer to have had them fall in love, have Frank to make the 100% turnaround (out of drunken-ness), that Rita makes of her life. But instead we get a more real ending. She has a new education, but an unsure future. He has a new future, but he may or may not still be a drunk. They both have a respect, and a frienship for one-another, and maybe a slight enamoration. In the end we are left with the sense they both will come out on top, but at the same time are not given the answers. Really a great watch for a rainy in the house night. The cast is great, you will be won over, and will watch this film repeatedly! May 31, 2008

More reviews at Amazon.com ...