Educating Rita (film)
Educating Rita | |
---|---|
Directed by | Lewis Gilbert |
Screenplay by | Willy Russell |
Based on | Educating Rita by Willy Russell |
Produced by | Lewis Gilbert |
Starring | |
Cinematography | Frank Watts |
Edited by | Garth Craven |
Music by | David Hentschel |
Production company | Acorn Pictures |
Distributed by | Rank Film Distributors |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 110 minutes |
Country | United Kingdom |
Language | English |
Budget | £4 million[1] |
Box office | $14.6 million (US)[2][3] |
Educating Rita is a 1983 British
Plot
Susan (who initially calls herself Rita), a 26-year-old
Susan's assigned Open University tutor, Frank Bryant, is jaded and has long ago openly taken to the bottle, describing himself as "an appalling teacher". Bryant's passion for literature is rekindled by Rita, whose technical ability for the subject is limited by her lack of education but whose enthusiasm Frank finds refreshing. Frank initially has misgivings about Rita's ability to adapt to student culture, but is impressed by her verve and earnestness and is forced to re-examine his attitudes and position in life; Susan finds Frank's tutelage opens doors to a bohemian lifestyle and a new self-confidence.
Frank's bitterness and cynicism return as he notices Susan beginning to adopt the pretensions of the university culture he despises. Susan becomes disillusioned by a friend's attempted suicide and realises that her new social niche is rife with the same dishonesty and superficiality she had previously sought to escape. The film ends as Frank, sent to Australia on a sabbatical, welcomes the possibilities of the change.
Cast
- Michael Caine as Dr. Frank Bryant
- Julie Walters as Susan "Rita" White
- Michael Williams as Brian
- Dearbhla Molloy as Elaine
- Jeananne Crowley as Julia, Frank's girlfriend
- Malcolm Douglas as Denny White, Rita's husband
- Godfrey Quigley as Rita's father
- Patricia Jeffares as Rita's mother
- Maeve Germaine as Sandra, Rita's sister
- Maureen Lipman as Trish, Rita's roommate
- Gerry Sullivan as Security Officer
- Pat Daly as Bursar
- Kim Fortune as Collins
- Philip Hurdwood as Tiger
- Hilary Reynolds as Lesley
- Jack Walsh as Price
- Christopher Casson as Professor
- Gabrielle Reidy as Barbara
- Des Nealon as Invigilator
- Marie Conmee as Customer in Hairdressers
- Oliver Maguire as Tutor
- Derry Power as Photographer
- Alan Stanford as Bistro Manager
Production
Lewis Gilbert says it was difficult to raise finance for the film. "Columbia wanted me to cast Dolly Parton as Rita".[5] Julie Walters, in her feature film debut, reprised her role from the stage production.
The film is set in an unnamed English university and port city: most of the working-class characters have
Release
The film had its premiere at the
Reception
Critical response
Variety magazine in December 1982 lauded Walters' interpretation of Rita as "[w]itty, down-to-earth, kind and loaded with common sense". "Rita," the review continues, "is the antithesis of the humorless, stuffy and stagnated academic world she so longs to infiltrate. Julie Walters injects her with just the right mix of comedy and pathos."[10]
Ian Nathan reviewing the film for Britain's
Janet Maslin of The New York Times called the film "an awkward blend of intellectual pretension and cute obvious humour" and "the perfect play about literature for anyone who wouldn't dream of actually reading books"; she wrote that "the essentially two-character play has been opened up to the point that it includes a variety of settings and subordinate figures, but it never approaches anything lifelike".[12]
Film critic Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film two stars out of four, calling the film a "forced march through a formula relationship"; he said Russell's screen adaptation "added mistresses, colleagues, husbands, in-laws, students and a faculty committee, [that were] all unnecessary" and said the playwright/screenwriter "start[ed] with an idealistic, challenging idea, and then cynically tr[ied] to broaden its appeal".[13]
Educating Rita holds an 82% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on seventeen reviews.[14]
Accolades
Award | Category | Nominee(s) | Result |
---|---|---|---|
Academy Awards | Best Actor | Michael Caine | Nominated |
Best Actress | Julie Walters | Nominated | |
Best Screenplay – Based on Material from Another Medium | Willy Russell | Nominated | |
British Academy Film Awards | Best Film | Lewis Gilbert | Won |
Best Actor in a Leading Role
|
Michael Caine | Won | |
Best Actress in a Leading Role
|
Julie Walters | Won | |
Best Actress in a Supporting Role | Maureen Lipman | Nominated | |
Best Screenplay – Adapted | Willy Russell | Nominated | |
Most Promising Newcomer to Leading Film Roles | Julie Walters | Nominated | |
Golden Globe Awards | Best Foreign Film | Nominated | |
Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy
|
Michael Caine | Won | |
Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy
|
Julie Walters | Won | |
Best Screenplay – Motion Picture | Willy Russell | Nominated | |
National Board of Review Awards | Top Ten Films | 2nd Place |
Retrospective assessments
In 1999, the film was among the BFI Top 100 British films.
In 2007, while promoting the remake of Sleuth, Caine called Educating Rita "the last good picture [he] made before [he] mentally retired."[15]
Home media
The film was released on DVD in the UK and the US. ITV Studios released the film onto Blu-Ray in the UK (Region B) in 2008 as a 25th Anniversary edition, to mark twenty-five years since the film's release. This edition was discontinued, but in May 2018, ITV Studios released the film onto Blu-ray again.
Proposed remake
In November 2002, the then-82-year-old director Lewis Gilbert went public with plans to remake his film "with a black cast that could include Halle Berry and Denzel Washington", with principal photography to commence in 2003.[16] The project did not come to pass, and Gilbert's final film was Before You Go (2003).
See also
- Rubyfruit Jungle, a novel by Rita Mae Brown, studied with great enthusiasm by Rita
- BFI Top 100 British films
References
- ^ "The Chancellor Strikes Back." Sunday Times [London, England] 8 Apr. 1984: 33+. The Sunday Times Digital Archive. Web. 11 Apr. 2014.
- ^ "Educating Rita". The Numbers. Retrieved 24 April 2014.
- ^ "Educating Rita". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 7 August 2010.
- ^ British Film Institute - Top 100 British Films (1999). Retrieved 27 October 2017
- ^ "Of human Bondage". The Guardian. 9 March 2000.
- ^ "Educating Rita film locations". Reelstreets.com. Retrieved 10 September 2014.
- ^ "Court circular". The Times. 4 May 1983. p. 16.
- ^ "Educating Rita (advertisement)". The Times. 4 May 1983. p. 3.
- ^ "Top films". The Times. 13 May 1983. p. 28.
- ^ "Educating Rita (UK)". Variety. 31 December 1982. Retrieved 19 June 2017.
- Empire. Retrieved 2 February 2020.
- ^ Maslin, Janet (21 September 1983). "Educating Rita (1983)". The New York Times. Retrieved 7 August 2010.
- ^ Ebert, Roger (28 October 1983). "Educating Rita". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved 21 May 2011.
- ^ "Educating Rita". Rotten Tomatoes.
- ^ "Sleuth – Sir Michael Caine interview". IndieLondon.co.uk. Retrieved 7 August 2010.
- ^ "In brief: Black cast for Educating Rita remake". The Guardian. 15 November 2002. Retrieved 7 August 2010.
External links
- Educating Rita at BFI Screenonline
- Educating Rita at IMDb
- Educating Rita at AllMovie
- Educating Rita at Rotten Tomatoes
- Educating Rita at Metacritic
- Educating Rita at Shot at Trinity (database of films shot at Trinity College Dublin)