THE PRIME OF MISS JEAN BRODIE and DEAD POETS SOCIETY

THE PRIME OF MISS JEAN BRODIE

1969

Director: Robert Neame

and

DEAD POETS' SOCIETY

1989

Director: Peter Weir

This is the first of two paired films which approach similar topics from different standpoints.

In the fims next week Dead Poets Society, an eccentric male teacher in an all male school is directly or indirectly responsible for the death of a student.

The films have different attitudes toward the teachers and what they do. We need to look at how the nature of the films explores these differences.

Prime of Miss Jean Brodie is by a woman from Edinburgh, Scotland named Muriel Spark. The play and screen play are adapted from the book by Jay Presson Allen.

Brodie is portrayed by Maggie Smith who won the academy award for best actress for the film.

First some problems about “time”
The book, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie is written by Muriel Sparks in 1962
The film was made in 1969.
Both are set in a three or four year period starting in 1932,
This means that you must be careful in terms of interpretation of the “time”
There is the time the play is set (1932); the time the book was written (1962) and the time that the film is produced (1969).
In this film there are only 7 years between the book and the play, but in other imls it can be a good deal more.
Should we evaluate the behavior of the characters in terms of 2004? What efforts do audiences have to make to get into the time period in which the film is made and also in which the story takes place.

There are some cross cultural problems involved in terms of recognition of locales and dialects. The outdoor scenes are shot in Edinburgh and the dialect is a specific dialect of Scottish English associated with the Morningside district, a sort of upper middle class area

It is interesting that the class applauded after Brodie’s (Smith) impassioned speech at Miss MacKay who accused of a relationship with Mr. Lowther an Mr. Lloyd after reading a letter written by two of the students (and also at the end of the film).

Is there, at various times of the film a different affiliation with Brodie (Smith) by the audience. The play is “wordy” – that is there is a great deal of dialog. Does the film come down on one side or the other about Brodie (Smith)? What does they play/film say about her teaching methods and ideals? The Rod McKuen wrote a score for the film. What part does it play?

After the film:

Brodie (Smith) stands out from the rest of the faculty at Marcia Blaine. How is this indicated visually?
Clothing – colorful, different from the rest
Position in frame?

When Sandy begins to take ascendancy Brodie (Smith) is sitting and Sandy standing – for the first time in the film Sandy is “taller” than Brodie (Smith).

Is Brodie (smith) sincere in what she is doing or thinks she is doing?
Does she romanticize? Is she somewhat hypocritical? (Do as I say not as I do. You claim to admire people like Caesar)
Is Brodie (Smith) introducing students to life. How is this reflected in her taking students out of the college – tours of Edinburgh, trips to Crammen, trips to the opera?
How is this shown in the film?
How does the music impact on the film? What is its feeling or style?
Is the text “romanticized”

How are Brodie (smith) and Sandy (Franklin) placed in the frames as their relationship develops?

The film clearly deals with the question of a teacher as a role model, methods of teaching, and responsibility. We can question the nature of teaching, the profession, the relationship between the students and teachers etc.

Has the role or perceived role of the teacher changed since 1969? Brodie (Smith) is fired for being political. Is that unusual today. Click here to read a paper about the politicization of film courses.

DEAD POETS SOCIETY

1989

Director: Peter Weir

BEFORE THE FILM

Brodie and Poets are similar films in that they deal with charismatic leadership placed in eccentric teachers.

Dead Poets Society stars Robin Williams – a rather weird actor who usually plays specific kinds of “feel good” roles. There are sentimentalized and rather romanticized pictures. This is no exception.

The story/script is very manipulative, biased in its approach and provokes little or no thought. The films images are similarly banal and rather cliché.

Try to compare the images and script of this and Jean Brodie.

AFTER THE FILM

Tear out pages (censorship)

Not the bible (what is? William’s philosophy is sacred)

What is the philosophy:
Carpe diem (highly individualistic – no regard for consequences)

Pop psychology by the untrained

Hopkins is laughing. Not allowed

Humiliation of students – not laughing at you just near you.

William decides that some of his students poems are poor – on what grounds? He doesn’t believe in evaluation viz Evan Pritchard

Makes fun of students names “Pitts” etc.

Doesn’t like use of “very” wants the word “morose”. Is one word better than another – is this all on the Pritchard scale?

(When poem gets a 42 but doesn’t like it– maybe we should rip it up)

What about poem he gives a negative number to?

Didn’t do poem (being himself)

Forces him to do barbaric yault. (maybe Keating (Williams) is repressed D.I.)

Individualism is OK as long as I approve of it.
(compare early feminists – women have the right to do anything but be house wives)

Wants to be called "Captain my Captain" at one point does not ewspond to his name until the students call him Capain my Captain. Neil Perry (Robert Sean Leonard) is upset with birthday present – same as last year – parents don’t think about his birthday or present. (They have no right to do what they want. Depicted as bad)
Neil Perry (Leonard) is clearly suicidal – Keating (Williams) is too self absorbed to see it.

There is a poet in you after all? Why does he say that? What does he do to be called a poet.

Dead poets filled with romantic imagery – school in the mist, lone piper, black lit.
Indians, Thoreau, romantic poets.

Keating (Williams) lack of understanding about the world. Just explain everything to you father and he will understand, Yeah, right. Keating (Williams) is disconnected with the real world. Believes highly unrealistic story from Neil (Leonard) about his father agreeing. Keating (Williams) is in a fantasy world.

Contrast between “DPS” society and party at house of “hoped for girl friend”

Lack of tolerance of Cameron in releasing info to paper.

Script contains many contrasts between what people say and what they do. This is especially true of Keating. Acting:
Over the top performance (as usual) by Williams as Keating. Film has a great deal to do with performance - both diagetic and non diagetic. Williams performance is virtually the same as Keatings. Keating si constantly acting for the students. In the scenes where he is serious and talking to Neal, the scene is flt and ithout dramatic merit.

Neal Performs in the play
The students perform poetry readings

Non-performance performance:
People perform roles as teachers, parens, students, children. How well do they perform these roles?
Are parents and faculty drawn very "black and white" Are all the parents inaccessible? Are all the faculty stodgey?
Lighting
Frequently "romanticized often fantasy like
Scene of students going to DPS first meeting - blue light, flashlights, forest, hooded robes
Soft autumn light at sunset on lone piper on the pier

Locations:
Very romanticized
Campus in fall
"Indian" Cave
Somewhat enclosed claustophobic classrooms
Shots and framing
Class looks up at Keating both physically whe he stands in front of class (they sit) Neal looks down at father from stage when father stands in the back of the auditorium Father appears in back of auditorium, Keating in front, (Father and Keating are equated = both are father figures one "good" on "bad" - but which is which) Shot of Keating in small window high up is a low shot that gives him some status, but framed in small window makes him look like he is imprisoned. Moving camera shot when student's eyes are covered and is made to make up a poem. Camera whirls around the pair (Armstrong and Keating) indicating a kind of whirl the student's head is in. Camera looks at photographs of earlier students in the glass cases and then at the current crop of boys grouped like the photographs in front of the cases, thus paralleling the boys with the images in the photographs. Slow motion shots lengthen the time when Neal's father discovers his son's body.
Final shots of substitute English teacher framed ("trapped") between legs of students standingon desks. Tod also shown simliarly. What could this mean?

COMPARISON WITH BRODIE

What does the shift in gender do to the film?

How close are the two films? How does this effect the ideas of "ermake" and "genre"?
Is DPS a remake of the Prime of Miss Jean Brodie?
Do they simply share enough to make them fall in the same genre - whatever that may be. Is there a genre based on occupation - say teachers? there are some based on occupation - police stories, prison stories, sports films. Are there "chef stories" (A Chef in Love; Big Night, Rare Birds, Rush Hour, Mostly Martha, The COok the THief His Wife and her Lover, etc.) Starts with students gathering for start of school
(B) Scenes of Edinburgh – Scottish flavor (D) Bagpipes – Scottish flavor
Some brief religious comments.(B) comments about religion – Catholicism vs. Protestantism. (D) It isn’t the bible

Carpe diem – team spirit is for corps, Pavolva knew nothing of it.
(D) Don’t stride together

Both deal with a “select” group from the class. (Brodie girls vs. Dead Poets Society)
We see both groups with and without the teacher.

Mary MacGregor in an attempt to please Brodie (Smith) goes to Spain and is killed

Neil (Leonard) , in an attempt to respond to Keating (Williams) philosophy defies his father and commits suicide.

Dead poets filled with romantic imagery – school in the mist, lone piper, black lit.
(B) Brodie (Smith) has friends of her own age and status (Lowther (Jackson), Lloyd (Stephens)
(D) Keating (Williams) does not. Easier to deal with students who are impressionable. The first time he comes up against adults, he has problems.

Student Activities:
Brodie’s (Smith) outings and scene with girls are in realistic settings in reasonably normal lighting. Excursion to Crammen, Groery shopping, tour of Edinburgh.

Keatings outlings are on campus Students in Brodie hang out together - little or no discussion about opposite sex. Some squeamishness about topic and clear lack of understanding. Students in DPS hand out together, form organization and spend lots of time talking about girls and sex. Both Brodie (Smith) and Keating (Williams) are charismatic B questions the nature of charismatic leadership without substance. Brodie (Smith) herself is charismatic, but content is weird. So too with Williams. Films regard them differently. B asks the audience to question the nature of Brodie (Smith), Sandy (Franklin) and Lloyd (Stephens). DP basically wants you to accept Williams as a genius.

How do the films deal with studnet's deaths?
Mary MacGregor's death (Farr) is not seen, nor are any reactions to the person seen. Neil (Leonard) is not seen at the time of the shooting. Delay in that we are not sure what ahppened (although music is soemthing of a give away). We get to see reaction and hear him talking.

Students reaction to death of student:
DP = not shown. Reaction by students is shown JB = Sandy learns from paper and runs to Brodie. Brodie sees paper. MacKay (Johnson) has explained actual facts to the students , but Brodie discusses more symbolic implicatons. Acclamation by students at the end of DPS, Sandy (Franklin) walking out down the hall with her back to Brodie (Smith).

Brodie and Keating say things which are different from what they do. Keating pushes for free thinking, but rejects conformity if that is what you decide.

Brodie has fewer episodes wherein she acts differently from that which she says.

Keating rejects attempts to evaluate poems by Evans-Pritchard, but complains that "The cat lies on the mat" is trivial - a point of which Evans Pritchard would have approved. So why does he want to tear out Pritchard?

Does Keating regard other sources of authority or thought as threatening (tear out the introduction) the way Sandy feels that Brodie regards the girl guides as a rival fasciste?

Brodie exhorts students to look at art, beauty and truth, but not necessarily to act (except in one ill fated case)
Keating exhorts the students to act. By "siezing the day" they must do something.

In both films do the students go "too far" following the instructions from their teachers. Acting and appearance: Maggie Smith is talller than the girls, Robin Williams is smaller than many of the boys. They are less "threatened" visually by him than the birls are by Brodie
Smith's acting of pulling herself together to regain "composure" and her drifting off into reveries when discussing her lover "Hugh" gives a wide range of expression and emotion to the performance as opposed to William's constantly on stage performances. Brodie is not "performaing" the the same way Williams does. She is "extreme" as one of the people says Locations:
Brodie lacks the "romantic/nature" images which DPS has. These images side with Keatings romanticism, but contrast with Brodie's. Costumes:
Both films give brighter colors to the eccentric teachers and use school uniforms to indicate conformity in students. Uniforms are also drab, gray or black.

Shots and Framing:
Brodie, like Keating is often seen above the students who are seated. Keating is often lowered when with the boys when they are all standing. This makes Brodie's students seem perhaps more vulnerable.

Lighting Outside shots of DPS of group meeting are with lights in the darkness etc., hooded meetings, etc.