Gosh, teacher-student pederasty is so cute, isn’t it? It doesn’t harm anyone and it’s even kind of fun!
(Bennett actually has the gall to give the student the line: “Where’s the harm in it?” Um… I guess ethics are a little fungible across the pond.)
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Fascinating. I have a number of Anglophile friends who love this movie/play, and one who said it made her and her husband uncomfortable. I’m wanting to see for myself.
Other than that, (um, how big a part of the story IS that?) how did you like it?
I’d say it’s the whole thing. Yes, there are other elements in it, but to me the pederasty so overwhelms everything else that the rest of it is immaterial.
Another very large problem with this movie is that it has the original cast, directed by the original director. The “boys” are easily 8-10 years too old for their roles. Several of the actors are still acting for the stage.
While watching I was reminded of the old joke that it’s no accident that Americans’ nickname for films was “movies,” whereas the British term was “talkies.”
The “teacher-student pederasty” angle hasn’t escaped notice over here. I remember it came in for a lot of criticism on BBC television’s Newsnight Review.
The Dallas Morning News gave it a good review and didn’t mention pederasty or any other kind of nasty-asty. Odd, that. You’d think it would at least get a mention.