The Teachers' Lounge (#523)


The movie I saw in the screening room of a suburban New York City theater seated only about 20 in luxurious reclining chairs, and there were about 10 people in attendance.  In German, with reasonably readable subtitles, THE TEACHERS’ LOUNGE was a well acted, well done, well constructed movie which was offered as a mystery and a thriller, and I guess it could have passed as either or both.  It focuses on Carla, a new teacher in an upscale elementary school who teaches math and coaches sports teams and  who appears to have a good disciplinary hold on her classroom.  There are some random thefts, and the guilty party appears to be a student in her math class.  Carla doesn’t believe he is guilty and devises a plan to catch the real thief in the act.  Her plan succeeds and opens the door to classroom disruption, parental animosity and teacher rivalry.  Carla is in a heck of a mess and the film tries to resolve her problem but I’m not sure if it works, and the final scene of the movie displays some symbolic answer which didn’t answer my questions.  But it’s worth seeing if it’s in your neighborhood.  Certainly a vast improvement over flics like Drive-Away Dolls.  The only wrong note, in my opinion, were the students, who looked and acted much more sophisticated than the 6th graders they were supposed to be.  Critics gave Teachers' a 96% thumbs up; audiences 60%.  The operation on my elbow thus far hasn’t alleviated my numb finger problem so if you continue to see typos and s's which should be a’s still appearing, that's the reason.    

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