The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie

IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: No
Watched With: Myself

What a revelation. Don't watch all that trailer though there are massive spoilers at the end.

So I got onto this film after a facebook discussion about if Maggie Smith ever appears to be young on film. It prompted my recent viewing of Clash of the Titans. However, someone responded with a youtube link to a scene from this film that intrigued me so I thought I'd give it a look. This now replaces that film as the youngest I've seen her.

But apart from that I got a very unexpectedly awesome film. I had no idea Maggie Smith won an oscar for this film or that it was based on a play and novel and had a much higher calibre of writing and characters than I was ready for. I was expecting it to be a simple inspirational teacher movie like To Sir, With Love, made around the same time and one I did not get into much at all. That film pales in comparison to this though.

At the beginning I couldn't figure it out. Her character, Miss Brodie, is so flamboyant and even a little reckless I thought that she isn't exactly 'safe' or someone to be at the centre of a motivational teacher film. And of course that then becomes an issue, but there's much more going on than that. I started this at midnight thinking if I fell asleep I could watch the rest tomorrow but unlike To Sir, With Love it captivated me more and more as it went along. All the actors are great especially the main school girl Sandy. And it climaxes and comes to a close magnificently. There's no straight happy ending here, there's a definite resolve with a hint of bitter irony that will leave you satisfied but with enough to think over as well. A hard balance to pull off.

I love finding these unexpected surprises and in such strange ways too. It's invigorated me. Defiantly one to seek out.