Both films end on an assertively ambiguous note, asking whether any form of art is worth saving via potentially dangerous methods. There are similarities to Damien Chazelle’s Whiplash, although The Kindergarten Teacher benefits from a subtler form of expression. These pleasures comes to Lisa in the form of her instructor’s passion, an unusually restrained Gael García Bernal, and more importantly from Jimmy’s enchanting monologues.Īt the climax, Colangelo asks us to decide how much pressure can be placed on an individual to bring out their nest work. This aesthetic has the dual effect of creating an icy coldness, a world devoid of poetry’s joie de vivre. Perhaps we are never driven to indignation at Lisa’s actions because the film exudes a refreshing state of calm, boasting a visual style that is awash with turquoise hues. Unlike Lisa’s misguided efforts, which descend from smothering to kidnapping, the film itself shines as a nuanced ode to art. The film has been made for an anglophone audience with an established female lead, so that Colangelo can make accessible the beauty of poetry. Such criticism would subscribe to the very snobbery which The Kindergarten Teacher seeks to reject. This could be an ironic message, given that this is an English-language remake of Israeli director Nadav Lapid’s 2014 film, an exercise typically frowned upon by lovers of ‘high-brow’ foreign cinema. Her lack of creativity is visibly frustrating, and it is why we empathise even when her obsession develops beyond reason.Ĭolangelo invites us to support Lisa in her futile effort to save culture. Lisa cannot relate to something so intangible, requiring the experience of production and reception – reflected in the fact that she writes her derivative poems with a ballpoint pen in a tattered notebook. The teenager despairs at the smell of a dark room, citing instead her Instagram profile to demonstrate her success with a camera. There is a scene in which Lisa sits down with her daughter and asks why she gave up photography. Her feelings come from personal failure, of not being born with artistic ability, and so she grasps the opportunity to live her life vicariously through a child prodigy. The pureness of this little muse instils within her a devastating disappointment in her own decidedly non-academic children. Her performance is unlike anything we’ve seen from her before, as she takes a boy called Jimmy (Parker Sevak) under her wing after hearing him recite poetry. Gyllenhaal plays teacher Lisa Spinelli with a quiet mastery that confirms her as a compelling lead. What appears on the surface to be a slow-burn thriller eventually asks trenchant questions about the nature of parental responsibility, and the extent to which guardians have a duty to a child’s talent over their own wellbeing. “Talent is so fragile and rare, and our culture does everything to crush it.” So says Maggie Gyllenhaal in Sara Colangelo’s The Kindergarten Teacher, a sentiment that perfectly captures the essence of the film. “She’s someone who is starving, she’s hungry, and not being fed and that’s something I can relate to about being a woman in the world many women are waking up to the extent of which we’ve twisted ourselves into pretzels and bent over backwards to fit into a culture that isn’t built for us,” says the actress.Maggie Gyllenhaal is compelling in this rich character study about a mentor and her protégé. In the recent feminist revolution of #MeToo and Time’s Up, Gyllenhaal also believes Lisa speaks to many women today. As an actor, your body is your instrument,” says Gyllenhaal at a recent NYC Awardsline screening at the Landmark W57. “I love in movies how sex and sexuality means something else it’s a means to an end of talking about something else. Nudity and sex scenes have specific intentions and purposes in both projects. Gyllenhaal, who is also a producer on The Kindergarten Teacher and The Deuce, is attracted to raw female parts. “In order to grow, you have to fall apart,” says Gyllenhaal who was looking to do a project with “sexiness, opera and punk” akin to John Cassavetes’ A Woman Under the Influence about a wife and mom battling mental illness as powerfully played by Gena Rowlands. 'Fall' Sequel In The Works After Vertigo-Inducing Thriller Becomes Surprise Netflix Hit
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