Film: The Teacher (2023)

Tomorrow, film - and with the week's film list finally done, and me having eliminated what I didn't like from the top of it - I was headed to The Teacher. It's about a Palestinian teacher who begins a relationship with a UN worker (Imogen Poots) stationed there. Stanley Townsend plays the father of an American/Israeli soldier taken hostage. Closest showing to me was in The Garden Cinema - and late enough that I should be able to make it! It'd be lovely not to have to rush.

"Not to rush", eh? I was on the slowest bus imaginable.. but I stuck it out, figuring I had plenty of time. We stopped TWICE "to even out the gaps in the service" - the second time, it was ages before he even put on that announcement. A tourist family on board were most confused about why we kept stopping. Tons of passengers did disembark, to try their luck elsewhere. Me, I think he was eking out his time - sure enough, when we got to the usual spot, we changed drivers..

Now, I had it in mind to eat at Nando's. I remembered the Soho branch as being the closest to the cinema - but when I got there, I was told there was a 15-minute wait. What with the bus being so delayed, it had already taken me over an hour to get there - I decided I didn't have time, and wondered where the nearest Pret was. But typically for this area - NO INTERNET! So I headed for the one I knew, and that I knew would still be open - the one near the office. Which would be heading away from where I wanted to be, but I figured I'd manage. And then it started raining on me, which hadn't been forecast.. jeez, I wasn't having the most terrific evening!

Hallelujah, they were open - and they had the salmon sandwiches I love.. and the staff member was so nice and sympathetic. I must have looked cold. And I got a comfy seat, and wolfed it down - until I came across a bone, unusually. Well, I caught it in time, no medical emergency. And when I was ready to leave, I looked up how exactly to get to the cinema. Uhh.. it was in the opposite direction to where I'd thought I'd be going! I soon figured out it wasn't the Soho Nando's I wanted.. it was the Holborn one! Jeez, it's such a good job I didn't wait at the Soho Nando's - I'd never have been in time! In fact, heading to this Pret was an inspired choice - it was on the way.

So yes, I did make the cinema on time. And with my QR code all ready to be scanned n all, meaning I could jump the queue ahead of the people in front of me, who didn't have theirs ready, hmph. And I had time to nip to the loo, and to grab a drink - unfortunately, what I wanted, they didn't do by the glass..! The only have two white wines by the glass - I had the Chilean one, and I'm afraid I wasn't terribly impressed. Hey-ho, I was in my seat - I'd wisely chosen the aisle - by the time the film started. And for all they warn that they don't show ads, they do show trailers..

The Teacher, as we're told in the closing credits, has completely fictional characters. Nonetheless, it's based on real events - as will be apparent to anyone who follows the news of that benighted part of the world. The protagonist is a Palestinian English teacher, who walks a fine line between teaching, and his natural instinct to protest against the oppressors. We see early evidence of this oppression, when the house across the road from him is demolished. As he explains to the UN worker with whom he will become involved, it was just their turn - all the houses in his village are scheduled for demolition, including his own. Doubtless - although it isn't specified - to make way for the increasingly aggressive Israeli settlers.. and as if what we see of them in the film isn't enough, he also has a story about them from his youth to tell his protegé.

He's a teacher in more ways than one, as we discover - not only is that his job, but as mentioned, he does have this protegé - a bright student in his class, who increasingly looks to him as a father figure when his brother is killed, early in the film. His own father died when he was little. Adam, his name is. And as the film progresses, he learns lessons from this teacher that will burn themselves on his memory, to make him the man he becomes by the end.

It's a really moving film - we go deeply into the lives of the main characters, get to know them. And as you might expect, what happens in the course of the film - as well as in flashbacks - is truly awful. I tell you, we who do not live in war zones should thank our lucky stars. Every day. The difference in this case is that this state of war has lasted for generations.. and shows no sign of stopping. If you have any compassion for the Palestinians, you will find this devastating. Israeli supporters might want to avoid it, really.. although they do use an Israeli lawyer at one point..

Tomorrow, I'm back with Up in the Cheap Seats for A Face in the Crowd, about what happens when someone is plucked from obscurity to become famous. A warning about the dangers of idolisation of celebrities. Showing in the Young Vic - so I've booked the nearby Bar + Block, yum yum! And someone from the group will be joining me. Now, I did try to amend the booking - not a hope! Reserve with Google won't even display my booking! I have the support team working on it - apparently, although after their initial contact, there's been nothing. Anyway, I can't see it being a problem to add just one person to a table for one.. and ideally, bump the reservation forward by 15 minutes - it's never been busy when I arrive, despite them requiring a booking.

And on Thursday, it's looking like film again - I'm thinking of My Favourite Cake, a comedy from Iran (and I love Iranian film) about an old lady who never found love, but has an altercation with the religious police when they stop a young lady for having hair showing under her scarf. (At least she doesn't risk being shot, unlike in the case of the IDF..) In the course of this, the old lady meets a taxi driver - invites him home, and they have an evening to remember.. Closest showing to me is in the Curzon Bloomsbury - the booking system is down again, as usual, but hopefully I shouldn't have a problem getting in.