Film Review - The Teachers’ Lounge
Images courtesy of Madman Entertainment.
This review makes explicit elements of the film’s plot. Readers who have not seen The Teachers Lounge and wish to do so without spoilers are advised to watch it first and then return.
Released in 2023 and nominated for Best International Feature at that year’s Oscars, The Teachers Lounge is a tense interpersonal thriller about power and rebellion. İlker Çatak’s film, which won him Best Director and Best Fiction Film at the German Film Awards, tells the story of a series of thefts that take place at a primary school. The students are immediately accused, much to the chagrin of new teacher Carla Nowak. In an attempt to clear the names of her students Carla, accuses an administrative worker whose son, Oskar is in her class. This accusation echoes across the school leading to student rebellion and the ostracisation of Oskar.
The tension that runs throughout the film is handled expertly. With the true perpetrator of the thefts never being revealed, the audience is kept in the dark as much as the characters. This, along with more metaphorical scenes where Carla is surrounded by people wearing the blouse she used as evidence to accuse Oskar’s mother, add to the anxious tone of the film. The actions and accusations carried out by the characters are under constant question, leaving moral judgement up to each individual viewer.
The difficulty of coming to these kinds of moral judgments is reflected excellently in the central character Carla. The film follows her from entering the school as a new and excited teacher who clearly cares deeply for her students, to ultimately having to remove a student with the aid of the police. This fall from grace is depicted adeptly and realistically, and the consistency of Carla’s character throughout is particularly impressive. All her shifts and decisions are clear and understandable. This can be attributed to both the writing and Leonie Benesch’s well crafted performance, which brought her a Best Actress win at the German Film Awards.
Frustratingly, this impressive characterisation doesn’t extend far beyond Carla. Oskar and his mother both lack a certain depth which hinders their believability. The complete adherence to Carla’s POV, which worked so well in the creation of tension, has the adverse effect of not allowing us any insight into the thoughts of the abused parties. Due to this lack, a lot of the reactions from and decisions made by Oskar and his mother seem sudden and extreme.Oskar’s mother’s fury over the situation reaches levels of interrupting parent teacher interviews shockingly quickly. Similarly, Oskar’s rebellion within the school becomes violent in a rather unbelievable way, particularly when all depictions of him earlier in the film make him up to be a relatively gentle kid.
This is ultimately a film about power and rebellion, and it is within the interplay of the two subjects that it shines. The tension I spoke on quickly spills into the student body and rears its head not only as teasing and ostracising of Oskar but also moving displays of solidarity The closing shot directly conveys the films overall message. This message being that the only way to truly keep a top down power system like the school running is with active repression. It is for this reason that despite being removed from the school Oskar still seems to come out victorious in the end. Through his rebellion Oskar has highlighted the hypocrisy of the system and his rightly borne aloft as a victor. This clear statement of the theme creates a perfect button on the narrative, pushing aside the lack of characterisation afforded to Oskar and his mother. Teachers Lounge is a well acted and written drama that carries a clear theme and tension throughout. I highly recommend it to anyone interested.
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The Teacher’s Lounge is screening in cinemas now. For tickets and more info, click here.