Review of The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1969) by David F — 22 Mar 2013

I liked this better than the book which sort of beat around the bush of the various issues it brought up. The film is much more direct about the conflicts between Miss Brodie and the school as well as the inner turmoil among the Brodie set.

A lot of the conflict in the novel was left to dissipate or go unresolved but in the film almost everything comes to a head, often with people shouting at each other in articulate speeches which make it quite clear just what was at stake.

On the other hand, by being so explicit the story loses some of the magic that you may embellish with your imagination when everything is presented so directly. It's one thing to read about a schoolgirl modelling for an artist who is also her teach but another to see her lying there naked à la Kate Winslet in 'Titanic'.