A Sliver of Hope Shines Among the Ashes of Despair
This movie deserves a just review, if only to debunk the notion that the film bears any resemblance to the 'The Dead Poets Society.' It is a uniquely English work that illustrates what it is to keep a stiff upper lip -- after a fair amount of quivering.
Albert Finney is masterful as Andrew Crocker-Harris, the stern and unyielding teacher of classics who has, rather suddenly, found himself at the end of his career. With modernity regnant in society, Crocker-Harris faces students uninterested in the great literary works of antiquity and a successor who intends to abolish the tenets of a curriculum that once produced the most learned citizens of any nation. Crocker-Harris can clearly see that his time is passing. But unlike 'Dead Poets,' which sends the unacceptable message that suicide offers an exit from seemingly intractable problems, 'The Browning Version' finds its main character clinging to hope in the face of despair. The vehicle by which this occurs is a student's kind gesture.
There are several excellent moments in this film, but perhaps the finest was a scene in which Crocker-Harris -- teaching his final class in the Classics -- attempts to convey depth and feeling in translating Aeshylus' Agamemnon. It's hard not to get caught up in it. For the first time, the staid old teacher conjures up meaning from across the ages in a work that, for the students, is only a dusty tome better kept on a library shelf.
My chief complaint about this film centers on development: it needed more character development and a more studied consideration of the literary content, to which only allusions are given.
As the French would say, 'The Browning Version' is a voir-absolument.
poor version
Terrence Rattigan's play centres on Andrew Crocker-Harris who is resigning as classics professor from an English boy's school, and is structured as an extended farewell. This kind of play requires a great central performance which, in this version, Albert Finney does not give. Granted, Rattigan is no major dramatist and there is little enough opportunity in the text for any actor, but Finney fails to reach the audience. Finney's acting recalls his sober moments in John Huston's Under the Volcano. He looks pasty and the only pleasure to be had is in his mercurial voice and counting the lines in his face. Watching him, one wonders what delicacy Anthony Hopkins would have brought to the role and longs to see Michael Redgrave in the 1951 version, who by all accounts was superb. As Finney's wife, Greta Scacchi is the best reason to see the film. She looks lovely and brings the pathos that Finney lacks to her role. When she visits Matthew Modine, the science teacher at the school who she has been having an affair with, and he rejects her, we see her longing and disappointment. She also has a deliciously nasty moment later when she insults Finney and, in an inspired touch, director Mike Figgis frames her face with exploding fireworks. Modine seems too young for his role and is stiff and unconvincing. It's hard to believe that Scacchi would fall in love with him. As the young boy who Finney has been tutoring and who gives him "the Browning version", Ben Silverstone is sensitive and looks a little like Geraldine Chaplin. In the school shower room, Figgis comes through with another visual masterstroke by framing the boy's shivering wet body with the taunting face of his tormentor. The film manages to shake off Rattigan's stuffiness and make theatrical material cinematic only occasionally. Because of his reliance on Finney, Figgis' direction seems weak at pivotal moments. When the boys are meant to marvel at Finney's Latin performance of Aeschylus, Figgis' camera shoves Finney in our face. When Finney receives the book whose inscription causes him to break down, Figgis never shows us what the boy had written, and in the climactic speech he cuts madly away from Finney to the weeping onlookers. The school itself is as big as a castle, but we only get to see glimpses of it. Of note is Mark Isham's moving music.
A Superb Film
Albert Finney's portrayal of retiring classics teacher, Andrew Crocker Harris, in "The Browning Version" is a marvelous and understated performance that you will not forget. While I rarely review movies on this site and I cannot fathom why I missed this film when it was released in 1994, I recommend that everyone see it. The title refers to a translation of Aeschylus' Agamemnon; a play that many students will recall from high school. A play that resounds within this story too.
Crocker Harris is mocked and ridiculed by the students as a classics teacher of Latin and Greek. His popularity pales when compared to a physical education teacher who is also departing the school. His position at the prestigious English boarding school is being eliminated for one that emphasizes the study of modern languages. His wife is unfaithful with Matthew Modine's character, an American chemistry teacher. The students often cite Crocker Harris' refrain about grading " You have obtained exactly what you deserve- no less and certainly no more." A line that unfortunately also describes Crocker Harris' teaching career and life.
In line with films like Dead Poets Society and The Emperor's Club, The Browning Version will keep your interest and not disappoint.
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