O Estudante

Venya is a teenager with attitude, he is cared for by a single mother who works three jobs to keep body and soul together. Then one day she gets a call from his school saying he is refusing to take part in mixed swimming lessons. She imagines all the reasons why a teenage boy may not want to do such an activity but never thought that it would be against his political convictions. However, he insists that he is religiously motivated and his stance finds traction in the school principle.

As he realises that religion is power so he sets out to control those around him by becoming a sort of walking, talking Bible. The passages he quotes are very subjective and selective but when delivered with absolute conviction seem to carry more weight and their implicit truth appears loaded with spiritual and moral currency. His Nemesis in this is a forward thinking science and biology teacher but he knows he has God on his side.

Now this is taken from the play by Marius von Mayenburg who is German and the original Russian title was '(M)uchenik' which is a play on Russian words in that muchenik is 'martyr' and 'uchenik' is student – and as such is a brilliant title, but would not work in English – hence 'The Student'. The issues of religious control and the like are hot and controversial topics with parallels to way more than Christianity and as such the film has had its critics.

The acting, directing and cinematography are all excellent and the plot is both compelling and urgent for a film that runs just shy of two hours it really does not waste any time – in Russian with good sub titles this is a film that will divide opinion and I think that is no bad thing – so recommended to those who like to have to think about their cinema.

The first DVD I've seen in which there is no menu (e.g. chapters; audio; special features, etc.) at the start. It just started, I was initially worried that subtitling would not be present, but turns out subtitling was actually well done & accurately translated. Script is centered about a high school student (possibly in Moscow, Russia), and his isolation from his schoolmates because his newly developed obsession (or is it devotion) to a literal interpretation of The Bible (literalists don't see it as an interpretation, but as the only direct & unquestioned revelation from God) sets him at odds with everyone including his mom. His actions turn most students/school personnel against him (but not all) disrupting the school. He causes his biology teacher to be confrontational to the point she loses it. He believes a true devotee must be willing to die (martyr) for their place in Heaven. Most Christians (including conservative Russian Orthodox Church members) & everyone else will have Hell (i.e. think William Blake's burning Hell) as their destination. He believes prayer is only honest when done in secrecy/privately; temples/churches & anything equivalent to gold (wealth) are a ticket to Hell. Lots of remarkably unbiased intelligent discourse presenting his pov while he tries to defend himself & change others, including the science/biology teacher who is his main counterpoint. To showcase human debauchery there's full nudity (no sex); excessive consumption; vainness. Not a dry talking heads story, but an engaging, at times amusing (in biology a sex-ed demo with a carrot & condom turns hilarious), dramatic story w/a surprising ending.

There are several issues touched upon in this film; some of them very complex, and others, rather simple. First of all, there are no protagonists in this film. All the characters are flawed to some degree; some are extremely flawed. Also, there is no clear delineation between what is right or what is wrong. If you are religious, you will believe in one set of outcomes; if you are agnostic or atheistic, you will believe in other outcomes. Does God exist? Thomas Tafero wrote about this issue in his book (Amazon.com) called The Defense, where he had to defend his atheistic beliefs against six religious leaders of different faiths to receive his PHD (very good reading I might add). Aside from the religious aspect, there are the sexual overtones of the film, and finally the persecution of innocent teachers by school administrators who constantly take the word of students over the teachers (I had this experience at Jimei University in China, when one of the administrators believed six students who lived in the same dorm who cheated on their final paper. I had to eventually pass them after giving them all an F). I never thought I would see the day when Soviet schools would be so permissive. The film is interesting to see the current state of Russian education.

This is the cinema we should be watching right now to rest a little bit of the same old famous faces from Hollywood and the same narratives.

The storyline adapts itself to the times we are living where the ultra Orthodox thinking is starting to rise again. Maybe it's not the end we were expecting to happen but it's the one a Russian direct can afford in their own political context.

like many Russian contemporary films, it seems be portrait of near reality from East. in fact, it is a puzzle of questions. about school and about teenager crisis, about the use of religion and the answer of Church, about friendship and fear and teachers, about situation of a student as personal struggle for a woman looking defining his life direction. it could be perceived as attack against Chistianity, as satire or as precise reflection of the state of school. but, more important, it has two virtues - the performances - especially the performance of the lead actor and the status of support for reflection about near every day reality. because it gives nothing new. well known facts, the crisis of a teenager, empty head teachers, a revolutionary Biology teacher, her boy friend, a young student looking for love. each as part of a lucid and admirable interrogation. so, an admirable work.