The Teacher’s Lounge movie review: Germany’s Oscar nominee in disguise | Hollywood

What happens in the school staff room? What do teachers talk about? When I was a child, I remember standing outside the door of the teachers’ room, waiting to hold the corrected notebooks for the class like some other teacher who was on break, sitting alone, or having a cup of tea. In the German film nominated for the Academy Award for Best International Film, The Teacher’s Lounge, curiosity itself opens up a world of contradictions, accusations and power dynamics. Come unprepared to watch Ilker Katak’s thrilling and exciting drama, and chances are you will be impressed. (Also Read: SAG Awards 2024: Lily Gladstone’s win over Emma Stone shakes up Best Actress race ahead of Oscars)

Hypothesis

Karla Novak (Leonie Benesch, best known for her work in Michael Haneke’s The White Ribbon), is the new math and physical education teacher, dedicated to her job, and doing a great job of interacting with her students in the classroom. Her idealism takes the first blow when she witnesses a culture of mutual suspicion and institutional racism when her class representatives are pressured to name one of their classmates Ali (Kahn Rodenbostel) for stealing money.

This event shakes Carla, and the next time she’s in the teachers’ lounge, she keeps her laptop camera open in front of her coat with her purse in it. When she returns, she already knows what will happen, as some money is missing. The evidence destroys the employee’s reputation, but becomes more complicated for her son, Oscar (Leonard Stettinch). He is a quiet, talented boy in Carla’s class, and they both share a promising relationship – which is torn apart after an accusation turns into bullying and, ultimately, resentment.

The teachers’ lounge is told through Carla’s point of view and is restricted only within the school premises – it involves an entire community under surveillance. It’s a bubble, constructed in a 4:3 aspect ratio by cinematographer Judith Kaufman, giving the space a cramped, almost claustrophobic mirror of the world at large. Helping us greatly here is Marvin Miller’s muted score, which immediately prompts a sense of the impending turmoil that will follow. Working here with a script he co-wrote with Vanessa Koenig, Katak carefully calibrates issues of institutional surveillance, serious accusations, and the vagaries of modern technology – where a mothers’ WhatsApp group is enough to spread rumors in innocent minds. from children.

Great leadership performance

At the center of this disjointed chaos is Leonie Benesch, who gives a brilliant performance as an idealistic teacher forced to confront one bad day after another. One sequence of her having a panic attack after a disastrous PTM is unforgettable. Stettinch comes forward forcefully in later scenes, his unscrupulous gaze conveying the inner rage that wreaks havoc in the classroom. It is a wise decision that we never get to see his dynamic at home, and only learn about his gradual coldness within the confines of school. It makes a fascinating argument about the difficult balance in the teacher-student relationship, where Carla can only help as much as Oscar chooses to let him.

Final thoughts

Astonishingly intense and brilliantly restrained, The Teacher’s Lounge is one of the best films of the year. I think I forgot to breathe for the last 30 minutes, such is her strength and power. Where does courage come from? Where does the truth lie? There is nothing more terrifying than realizing that the world is oblivious to confronting its own hardline and complicit policies.

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