Rent The Teachers' Lounge (2023)

Suspenseful school drama - The Teachers' Lounge review by PD

This excellent piece deals with a variety of themes including trust, manipulation, conformity and abuse of authority, all of the action taking place within the confines of a school filled with hormone-addled children and their beleaguered teachers supposedly observing inscrutable codes of conduct; the film making full use of the dramatic possibilities inherent in its setting.

The story begins with an environment already unsettled by accusations of theft, with young teacher Carla (Leonie Benesch) pulled into a tense conference with other staff and two student representatives. Throughout, the well-intentioned Carla acts like a public defence lawyer, reminding the squirming children that they don’t need to answer which of their classmates may be the thief, whilst her counterproductively vehement colleagues press ahead like they’re detectives trying to break down a reluctant witness (the total inability of the senior staff to deal with serious accusations will be a feature). This issue then morphs into multiple overlapping crises, each of which concerns Carla directly or indirectly, and turn Carla’s once-orderly classroom and then the entire school into a free-fire zone of rumour, innuendo, and recrimination. Throughout, the director keeps us on medium-to-high boil through the film's quick-moving runtime, treating the dramatic developments with full emotional earnestness but without overplaying things - there are even moments when the film pokes fun at some characters’ self-seriousness, such as a great scene involving the staff of the student newspaper treating a 'gotcha' interview with Carla as the equivalent of Watergate. Carla remains admirably idealistic through all the chaos but finds herself more and more isolated; the irony of the film is that in attempting to push back against the group mentality of students or staff, Carla ends up drawing even more attention to her outsider status.

Benesch delivers a performance with an intensity that stops just short of self-martyrdom. But despite presenting Carla as more well-intentioned than almost any of the other adults on show, who largely appear as, if not even more, venal and petty and panicky as the students, this surprisingly suspenseful film doesn’t treat her as a hero, and although the rather truncated conclusion provides few clear answers, it makes clear that regardless of Carla’s genuinely caring nature, being rewarded for it rather than punished isn’t a given. Well worth a look.

Excellent, Timely German School Drama with Brilliant Acting & Horribly Familiar Staffroom Scenes - The Teachers' Lounge review by PV

I watched the director's last film BLURRED LINES which I gave 3 stars; the main actress here Leonie Benesch won the German Film Award for this movie, and she was in the superb PERSIAN LESSONS which I gave 5 stars and Berlin Babylon, an excellent German TV series. She is one to watch for sure and is utterly believable here as the idealistic newbie teacher confronted with the cynicism of the real world.

This film is called Das Lehrerzimmer in German, literally TEACHERs' ROOM, so STAFF ROOM in British English, though they are absurdly called TEAM ROOMS a lot now in UK.

Filmed in a disused school in Hamburg before demolition (very weird, as it looks GREAT, modern, nearly new - compare to many crumbling UK schools!).

I cringed in recognition at SO much here, having worked in UK colleges, and so witnessed the nasty, snide, sneaky office politics and backbiting of teaching staff. Apparently teaching has more bullying than any other profession. I believe it! The women especially can be so underhand with their agendas. I found the students fine; it was always my colleagues I disliked and often avoided. I winced at what was happening in the staffroom here as it is all so believable, the timeserver teachers who've been there years and so pick on the newbie; the little cliques sticking together; the passing of the buck always.

Anyway, the acting is superb amongst the kids too. This is like a YEAR 7 or 1st year UK school class, age 11/12 though this is a like a British Middle School. for years 7 and 8 up to age 13; then in Germany and countries with German influence like the Czech republic, kids go to high schools which in Germany means a selective school system (no US comprehensive school system imported there - they have grammar schools for the academic, vocational schools for the less academic but then they also have the manufacturing jobs and apprenticeships for school leavers, and general high schools).

Those wanting easy resolution endings will not like this. That is me, tbh, so I found the ending deeply unsatisfying but perhaps necessary. I found Act 3 frustrating though.

Not sure I believed ALL of the plot - the initial investigation is based on a real event the director saw, but later on, the jeopardy is ramped up in perhaps an unrealistic way (I did not believe the angelic teacher would not report some of the worst stuff). Did I believe the set-up, plot point one, regarding a fellow staff member and allegations and how it went after that? Not really.

The director said the film is to ask questions not to provide answers. But it is NOT about race or racism really, as it of course would be if made by British directors or the BBC/BFI. Why I prefer German and foreign films and TV drama really, it shuns tickbox diversity casting and preachy woke lectures and sermons. This movie would so easily have gone that way, and would if made by Brits or UK TV, but did not THANKFULLY. It showed. It did not tell or lecture or sermonise. Phew!

Reminded me a bit of 2008 German film set in a high school THE WAVE.

4.5 stars, 4 stars overall, acts 1 and 2 were 5 star quality though.