The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie

The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie seems at first to be of the teacher-student subgenre where great teachers change the lives of their students forever by teaching them independence, self-esteem and the ability to be an adult (EG. Goodbye Mr. Chips, Dead Poets Society, Stand and Deliver, etc, etc). In essence, this film adaptation sneaks onto the ignorant viewer's radar under the guise of such a story, but the character of Miss Jean Brodie (Maggie Smith, who is unforgettable in the role) is a lot more vivid and complex than your film-standard heroic teacher. At the film's heart is the question of whether she's heroic at all, with a slightly disturbing subtext on fascism and the dangerous influence adults can have on children.

Miss Jean Brodie is a progressive history teacher at a 1930s Scottish girls' school. She turns her nose up at the regular curriculum and demonstrates an astonishing level of openness with her class. She is a romantic of the highest order - idealising Mussolini and his fascist doctrine, she envisions Il Duce as a neo-Roman emperor and a link to ancient and untarnished times. Her students vie for positions within 'the Brodie Set', an elite of hand-picked girls that Jean Brodie seeks to groom as future leaders and heroines of popular culture.

I found the film's themes quite hard to process at first... I came into it as a modern viewer, thinking it was an early example of a stereotypical 'teacher' film. I saw Miss Jean Brodie as a woman torn between her ideals and her love for a married man. And she is that, but the story goes beyond such a mundane level. It was difficult for me because modern 'teacher' films have primed me to accept the wisdom of teacher figures on the screen and to see them as generally heroic rather than flawed or destructive. When such teachers butt heads with their peers or rail against the system with their unorthodox methods these films usually end with a vindication of their views, often after some rather pyrrhic battles. Not so in this case, it isn't that kind of story.

Brodie starts out the film as the closest thing to a protagonist but the film shifts allegiance from her two thirds of the way through - from what I understand, this may have been an aspect of the story lost in adaptation as the novel (that it's based on) relies heavily on a non-linear narrative whereas the film takes a more traditional approach by having the viewer see the story unfold in sequence. So, due to the viewer's changing interpretation of Brodie, the film feels deliberately ambiguous... I saw it as a reflection of the problems inherent in teaching. IE. How far should a teacher go to encourage independence? I suspect the film is actually more concerned with Brodie's political allegiances though, so this is only my personal impression.

If you only want one reason to watch this film it's for Maggie Smith's Oscar-winning performance. She's equal parts inspirational and uncomfortable to watch, pouring forth a passion and self-confidence that makes the character hard to categorise in neatly defined terms like 'hero' or 'villain'. Brodie's concept of a 'prime', the unmarried state of wilful independence that a young woman should enjoy, is portrayed by Smith as stretched thin but unyieldingly strong over a sense of ageing languish and misplaced idealism. It's one of the great screen characters, and a genuinely thought-provoking film.

DIRECTOR: Ronald Neame
WRITER/SOURCE: Script by Jay Presson Allen, based on his own Broadway play, which was based on the novel of the same name by Muriel Spark.
KEY ACTORS: Maggie Smith, Robert Stephens, Pamela Franklin, Gordon Jackson, Celia Johnson, Dianne Grayson, Jane Carr

RELATED TEXTS:
- The novella The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark was semi-autobiographical and is the best known of her works.
- Jay Presson Allen's play starred Zoe Caldwell in the title role, and debuted in 1968.
- The book was also adapted by Scottish Television into a mini-series in the late 1970s, this time starring Geraldine McEwan.
- For a similar tale of realisation, naivete and independence (this time set in the 1960s), see An Education.
- There are also some superficial similarities with the more stereotypical period teacher film Mona Lisa Smile.

AWARDS
Academy Awards - won Best Actress (Maggie Smith). Also nominated for Best Song (Jean).
BAFTAs - won Best Actress (Smith) and Best Supporting Actress (Celia Johnson). Also nominated for Best Supporting Actress (Pamela Franklin).
Cannes Film Festival - nominated for the Golden Palm.
Golden Globes - won Best Song (Jean). Nominated for Best Film (Drama) and Best Actress - Drama (Smith).