A teacher’s game of detective goes horribly wrong in this gripping drama.
“The Teacher’s Lounge” is a German import that’s also a powerful and complex school drama. When it comes through the right circuit, there’s a strong sense of humanity that really takes us inside the characters and the story. It’s all played with suspense, patience, and emotions, and all of them are powerfully drawn.
We meet a devoted and loving teacher named Carla Nowak (Leonie Benesch), whose school is dealing with a series of thefts, and must try to solve this mystery. Now, don’t expect for this to be a run-of-the-mill mystery or a brilliant Rain Johnson whodunit, because “The Teacher’s Lounge” is neither of those things. Instead, it wants to show us how trying to do the right thing isn’t as easy as it sounds.
In one episode, a Turkish student named Ali Yilmaz (Can Rodenbostel) is taken out of class and accused of stealing money, but his mother (Uygar Tamer) assures the district that she gave him the money to buy a present. So, he’s not a criminal.
To get to the bottom of this whole thievery problem, Carla manages to film her jacket being robbed with her laptop. It captured only part of a blouse, which was worn by the secretary Friederike Kuhn (Eva Löbau), whose son Oskar (Leonard Stettnisch) is a gifted student. At this very moment, it’s just an allegation, but the charges could be serious, which is why she must be suspended.
And it also becomes problematic for Carla, as filming the theft is considered to be a privacy issue, and the students’ behaviors are deteriorating.
The kids want to know what’s going on, which is why they refuse to do their work. Oskar is also harassed in the accusation that the fruit doesn’t fall far from the tree, up to the point of him threatening the teacher to drop all of this. This isn’t in Carla’s control, and she never wanted to make a case out of this, but the school has their principles. You know how they get. Details, details.
“The Teacher’s Lounge” was written and directed by Ilker Catak and co-written by Johannes Duncker, who both refuse to hold back whatever the thefts unfold. It’s about trying to do the right thing, but it also shows us there can be consequences in trying to do so. The teacher didn’t want to resort to getting the secretary in trouble, but she had to try to examine the situation. The secretary ends up turning her back on the teacher, and so does her son. Every scene between Carla and Oskar is unpredictable and well-acted by both Benesch and Stettnisch.
The last 10 minutes are gripping. I can’t describe it to you for the sake of spoiler alerts, but I can tell you it will make you guess and question about the decisions. And it uses the right mood and words to bring out a bad situation. One that requires the police to show up with one of the best arrest scenes I’ve ever seen on film.
School dramas can be provocative and well-acted, especially in the international circuit. There are characters who can’t always cater to American audiences with their cliches, but rather keep their emotions on a somber pace. I needed to understand what Carla’s investigation will unfold, and the film likes to depict it in a negative aspect, which can be stressful. But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t see “The Teacher’s Lounge” as a character study and poignant thriller. We can see it for its true colors, and the themes expressed here regarding loyalty, class, and consequences. All of which is painted tremendously well by Catak.
In Select Theaters Christmas Day
