The Country Teacher is a movie about being lost and being found, it is about how to find your place in the world and, most of all, it is about the costs of lonliness and what we might be willing to do not to be alone. It is a beautifully made movie and tackles a range of taboo subjects, especially taking place in the Czech Republic.
This is the story of not one person, but three people. Peter, a young and gifted teacher moves from Prague to a small farming community to teach for an unexplained reason. Mary (or Maria, depending on where you look) and her son live together in the homestead her husband left for her to care of alone when he died. Peter is obviously looking for solitude, but he does not want to be alone. After meeting Mary and her son one day in their pasture, asleep on their haystack, Peter and Mary become fast friends. Mary, too, is alone and looking for solitude but these two people see the same longing for companionship in one another. Initially misinterpreted for romance, Mary and Peter struggle to define their relationship. As the film goes on we begin to learn more about Peter. We discover that he has moved from Prague to escape a failed engagement, a result of his struggles with his own sexuality in addition to his struggles with his religion. When Peter’s ex-lover, a man he fully admits he did not love, comes to town he sets into motion a series of events that lead Peter and Mary, as well as Mary’s son, to crossroads in both of their lives, questioning their need to be with someone as well as their morals.
First let me say that this is an excellent movie. The cinematography is brilliant and the script provides wonderful material for some extremely gifted actors. I needed to say that first because I really didn’t like this movie. To be fair, I’m not certain that anyone is supposed to. The movie examines some places in our tender inner wolrds that we don’t like to go. It presents extremely difficult situations and decisions to be made and it ends in a way that made me furiously angry, but I think that was its purpose. Even though I did not particularly enjoy the experience of watching this film, the characters and the world it presents are so rich that I find myself thinking over my initial feelings and revising them still. I expect that I will do this for some time.
Despite the fact that I was not pleased with its resolution, I did find that the film’s take on forgiveness was very unique and wonderful. I didn’t agree with the outcome, and I’m certain I wasn’t alone in this, but that allowed director Bohdan Sláma to make a very powerful statement about what forgiveness can do in all our lives. The characters in this film feel like old friends and most certainly I recommend this journey to fellow cinephiles. Once this film comes to DVD grab a copy and head home for some inner soul searching.
