Tag: pupil

Deadline
(自殺通告)
(2025)

Deadline (自殺通告) (2025)

Director – Kiwi Chow – 2025 – Hong Kong, Taiwan, UK – Cert. 15 tbc – 118m

****

A secondary school focused on maximising exam results is upset by pending suicide and use of performance-enhancing drugs – plays as part of the UK’s Hong Kong Film Festival which runs from Friday, September 25th to Sunday, 4th October at various venues

The students of En-Shan Secondary School, clad in distinctive uniforms of purple shirt with militaristic shoulder boards and dark grey tie, perform aggressive workout moves as they chant their school litany extolling hard work leading to success. Principal Kung (Anthony Wong Chau Sang from Infernal Affairs, Andrew Lau, Alan Mak,2002; Hard Boiled, John Woo, 1992; My Name Ain’t Suzie, Angie Chen, 1985 – this latter showing in this year’s HKFF) encourages them in the idea that present suffering leads to later success.

The ubiquitous iSmart system contains a database of vocabulary the students must master to game the exam system; its latest 2.3 iteration uses eye-tracking software to record how much time the pupil is taking in direct eye contact with the teacher. It makes the surveillance technology of Happyend (Neo Sora, 2024) sound amateurish by comparison, even if, overall, Deadline is the more satisfying viewing experience.… Read the rest

Tags A4 flier, ADHD, Allison Lin, Anthony Wong Chau Sang, anti-depressants, bully, bullying, checking in, countdown, deadline, drug test, education, education system, exam, exam results, eye-tracking software, flier, game the system, garden, hard work, head boy, head teacher, high school, Hong Kong, Hong Kong Film Festival, Hong Kong Film Festival 2026, iSmart system, IT, Jimmy Lia, Kiwi Chow, lavatory cubicle, Meng Syun, Michael Chang, mystery, No Student Suicide Contract, performance-enhancing drug, present suffering, principal, pupil, rally, RD Huang, regimented, school, school building, school garden, school uniform, science lab, secondary school, security camera, self harm, Shao YI Mei, smart cards, smartphones, student, success, suicide, surveillance, surveillance technology, syringe, Tai Ting-wei, Tai Ya Zhi, Taiwan, teacher, textbook, threat, UK, uniform, upset, Wang Tzu Tiang, Zoom

Features Live Action Movies

The Karate Kid
Part III

Director – John G. Avildsen – 1989 – US – Cert. PG – 112m

Review written on spec at the time of the film’s UK release and never previously published. The first film I saw in this franchise, and clearly not the place to start, since it had reached a low ebb by this point.

The third in the series, this one has the annoyingly good-natured Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) back in the title role and is punctuated throughout its running length by inane music and image sequences in which Daniel LaRusso imitates his mentor Mr. Miyagi (Noriyuki “Pat” Morita) undergoing various physical slow-mo karate exercises. These are suitably shallow as to offend any true karate fanatic with half an ounce of brain; any other viewer is liable to be terminally bored by them.

The plot concerns the defeat of stereotypically evil Karate School owner/instructor Kreese (Martin Kove) being defeated in combat by Mr. Miyagi and becoming bent on revenge, i.e. by making his pupil LaRusso taste physical pain during defeat at a big karate tournament. Only trouble is, Daniel is persuaded by Miyagi not to take part. The film travels an utterly predictable route through various attempts by the baddies to get LaRusso to change his mind.… Read the rest

Features Live Action Movies

The Teachers’ Lounge
(Das Lehrerzimmer)

Post author By Jeremy Clarke
Post date April 11 2024
No Comments on The Teachers’ Lounge
(Das Lehrerzimmer)

The Teachers’ Lounge (Das Lehrerzimmer)

Director – İlker Çatak – 2023 – Germany – Cert. 12a – 98m

**** 1/2

A new teacher at a school where petty thefts have been taking place for some time makes some bad decisions which put her in a very difficult place – out in UK cinemas on Friday, April 12th

Schoolboy Lukas (Okar Mats Zickur) is being questioned about recent thefts in the school. Does he have any suspicions as to which of the pupils might be doing this? A girl sits beside him, a class representative, to make sure everything is being done properly. “You don’t have to speak if you don’t want to”, teacher Carla Nowak (Leonie Benesh from September 5, Tim Fehlbaum, 2024; The White Ribbon, Michael Haneke, 2009) assures him. Nevertheless, her male colleague pressurises the boy. First, he gives him a printed list of names with checkboxes and asks the child to tick any relevant boxes. When that doesn’t work, he goes down the list with his finger and asks the boy simply to nod at any suspicious name. He gets a nod.

Teaching in class, with a number of the kids stumped by the current algebra problem, star pupil Oskar Kuhn (Leonard Stettnisch) works through a proof on the blackboard, way in advance of the capabilities his age would suggest.… Read the rest

Tags Academy Awards 2023-24, Academy Awards 2024, admin, algebra, allegation, Anne-Kathrin Gummich, Best International Feature, blackboard, break legs, cam, camera, Can Rodenbostel, caught in the act, civil liberties, coercion, coffee machine, computer, computer game, consequences, Crime And Punishment, do the right thing, education, ethnic minority, Eva Löbau, false accusation, German, Germany, gifted, headmistress, human rights, Ilker Çatak, immigrant, immigration, jacket, journalism, legal advice, Leonard Stettnisch, Leonie Benesh, like mother, like son, Marvin Miller, media, Michael Klammer, money, native tongue, news, Okar Mats Zickur, Oscars 2023-24, Oscars 2024, Özgür Karadeniz, parents and children, peer group, piggy bank, Polish, pupil, Rafael Stachowiak, reporting, reputation, society, staff, staff room, steal, student, surveillance, surveillance camera, suspended, suspicion, teacher, theft, thriller, to catch a thief, truth, Turkish, Uygar Tamer