In Theaters
It says something about a film when the greatest character in it is not human or animal, but in fact a farm. True to its title, Czech writer-director Bohdan Sláma’s The Country Teacher is, indeed, about a teacher in the country. But although there is ripe material here for some moving drama, the only element that truly comes to life is the farm where much of the film’s action takes place, with its heaping mounds of hay, gorgeously sprawling acres of fields, lake and forest, and dilapidated main building that looks as though it could easily give room to a family of 15. Somewhere within the beautiful confines of this farm, and its evocatively rendered rural community, Sláma locates the necessary elements for a story, but never ties them together in any appreciable manner…
The Country Teacher opens this week in limited release. You can read the full review at Film Journal International.
Chris Barsanti 