Educating Rita
1983
Rita, a witty 26-year-old hairdresser, wants to 'discover' herself, so she joins the Open University where she meets the disillusioned professor of literature, Dr. Frank Bryant. His marriage has failed, his new girlfriend is having an affair with his best friend and he can't get through the day without downing a bottle or two of whisky. What Frank needs is a challenge... and along comes Rita.
Reviews
CinemaSerf
As with "Blood Brothers", Willy Russell has created another wonderfully evocative scenario for a bored, alcoholic "Professor Bryant" (Michael Caine) who finds himself tutoring aspiring working-class "Rita" (Julie Walters). She is the product of a state education system that has given her the rudiments but she needs more; she wants to be able to make her own choices - and they don't necessarily include settling down with her husband and having babies. Initially she is as daunted as she is inspired by the more intellectual environment he, and his students, inhabit but gradually their personalities entwine as it becomes clear that "Bryant" has plenty of demons in his own life - exemplified well by girlfriend "Julia" and her clumsily disguised affair with fellow lecturer Michael Williams' "Brian", as well as by his dependency on Scotch! On the face of it, the plot is really quite predictable, but that simplicity belies the real issues that many women faced when attempting to break free from their class-bound cycle of responsibilities of home and hearth, even in as late as the 1980s. The humour is frequent, dry and pithy with a fun, and quite telling contribution from Maureen Lipman as "Trish", the new flatmate who simply adores Mahler. The score could have been orchestrated a bit better - the synthesised sound is a bit amateur; and at times - like the original play - it drags a little, but that all serves to give us a little more of idea as to what makes both of them really tick - she is prepared to sacrifice much for her opportunity. Caine & Walters are superb, plausible and likeable in equal measure delivering a poignant story of salvation for both of them. It lost out to "Terms of Endearment" & "Tender Mercies" at the Oscars - which is a shame; it is much more memorable than either of those... see more
8 Jun 2023
More like this
Balibo
2009
Bright Eyes
1934
Blame It on Rio
1984
影武者
1980
Escape to Victory
1981
Vacancy
2007
The White Tiger
2021
National Lampoon's Vacation
1983
Strangers on a Train
1951
The Last House on the Left
2009
Wizards of Waverly Place: The Movie
2009
Poltergeist
1982
Changeling
2008
The Witch
2016
Back to the Future Part III
1990
Pride & Prejudice
2005
The Empire Strikes Back
1980
Dunkirk
2017
기생충
2019
A Quiet Place
2018