Review of The Country Teacher of Ban Nong He Yai (2010) by Paul T — 23 May 2009
Wait a second. Sidney Poitier scored an Oscar for Lilies of the Field but not for this? Amazing. I mean, in Lilies at least he got to share the burden with that Austrian actress who played Mother Maria.
Here he pretty much shoulders the entire film himself. And whereas in Lilies he plays a duck out of water in his own country, in To Sir he's on another planet in the form of London's East End.
Maybe it's because the Academy was so awed by him they didn't know what to do. This was the same year, after all, that he did Guess Who's Coming to Dinner? and In the Heat of the Night. Not a bad year.
Anyway, the so-called tough students in this film might seem tame by today's standards for inspiring-teacher movies, but keep in mind that this was the sixties. For that era this was pretty tough stuff.
Even by today's standards I was taken aback now and again by how rough they tried to make things for him. Yes, at the end I did tear up a bit.
This review of The Country Teacher of Ban Nong He Yai (2010) was written by Paul T on 23 May 2009.
The Country Teacher of Ban Nong He Yai has generally received positive reviews.
Was this review helpful?
