![]() ![]() Yet there are scenes that show Barthes is no Jesus at all. There is hardly an unsympathetic teacher in this movie. Some might say that "Detachment" is too light on the teachers because most of the blame falls onto parents and politicians. At times Barthes comes across like a modern day Jesus when he sleeps on the floor of his small apartment and lets the girl sleep in bed. Its quite heartbreaking to see him trying to make a change against all odds. When Barthes meets a young street hooker he decides to take her in with him and do his job outside school. When you see the pattern in all the peoples private lives and their desperate tries of holding on its obvious that "Detachment" is not just about the public school system but about our whole society, about each and every one of us. But its here where it all falls apart because of hollow politics, parents that do not care or are just as dysfunctional as the kids they raised and dropped into the public education system and idiotic social rules and conventions we are all used to. Its pretty tough stuff seeing kids void of hope, interest or enthusiasm and teachers trying to get to the few who are still to be reached in the classroom. You see the teachers coping with their daily routine while hearing an answering machine in the background every now and then with other teachers resigning or parents shouting for better grades for their kids. ![]() For some its cynicism and dark humor, "happy pills" are regularly mentioned too and for others its just swallowing their emotions until they erupt. Like him every teacher seems to have developed his individual coping mechanism. Barthes makes clear that he is hollow and words can't hurt him which is his way of coping with a hopeless situation by neglecting his private life and detaching from the world. You soon realize that the school is just the backdrop for a larger story about a teacher who tries to do his job by taking a role outside the play. At first it looks like all those "good teacher turns around a bad class" movies but its not. ![]() The beginning shows him trying to get into this new class around the bullies threatening him and other pupils, making it hard to teach anything. On the surface "Detachment" deals with the crumbling American education system through the eyes of substitute teacher Henry Barthes (played by Adrian Brody) who starts a new assignment in a new school with new teachers, in a new class with new pupils like he is obviously used to. its hard to grasp how the realization that we are indeed all the same can be so painful. This one spells it out pretty clear with the line "Henry Barthes is all of us". Its one of those films that leave you sitting in silence for a while when the credits roll much like excellent Dramas like "Requiem for a dream" or "Downloading Nancy". Wow! I was not expecting this movie to be this engaging. ![]()
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