The idea of schooling is the relationship between student and teacher. There's that need, that push to succeed on both ends. But how does one inspire a student? How about long talks about small facts no one knows or, maybe, having the students act out a scene entirely in French about a visit to a brothel? It's the book smarts versus the imagination, but neither are wrong as long as the end result is success.
From the London stage and stages around the world, "The History Boys" comes to movie theaters with the entirety of the original theater cast. Eight male students from a small British grammar school in the '80s gain some of the highest grades in the school's history. The headmaster (Clive Merrison) seizes the opportunity to bring some prestige to the school and get these boys into the most highly regarded schools in Britain: Oxford and Cambridge.
However, he believes that these boys are a bit too unruly and uncouth for the Oxford crowd. He brings in Irwin (Stephen Campbell Moore) to class up his students.
The boys -- Crowther, Timms, Lockwood, Rudge, Scripps, Dakin, Posner and Akhtar -- are happy with the way they are, but they still take to Irwin's way of teaching, which happens to be a little more stringent. He teaches them to go beyond the general facts that everyone who writes an essay will include. Those small tidbits, or "gobbets" as he calls them, that'll get the reviewer's attention.
Then there's the boys' general studies teacher whose real name is Douglas, but the boys call him Hector (Richard Griffiths). He teaches them loads of information really not necessary for the tests, like poetry, old songs and that French brothel scene. He also likes to take a boy home on his motorcycle once in a while. The boys know of his tendency to cop a feel and usually just take turns on who will take the ride and then laugh it off.
There's also Mrs. Lintott (Frances de la Tour) who teaches the boys history with a little feminism thrown in.
Irwin and Hector, soon forced to share a class session because a lollipop lady (a woman that stops cars at crosswalks) saw how handsy Hector can be.
But their work is nothing short of success as all the boys make it in to their prospective schools. However, "The History Boys" suffer a bit of sadness and tragedy despite all the success. But as the boys say, history is just one thing after another.
"The History Boys" is a highly engaging film that takes the callous process of applying to schools to another level. Here in the States, students take a few tests, write a few essays, send off transcripts and wait for a letter. The boys had a more intensive review process and had to write essay after essay after essay. Maybe it's just because it's Oxford, just like the U.S. has Harvard.
But besides being a movie about schooling, it's about sexual awareness and raging hormones primarily centered around Dakin (Dominic Cooper). He's fooling around with a female school employee, Posner (Samuel Barnett) has a thing for him and he has a thing for Irwin. It's a mixture of heterosexual and homosexual feelings, with the latter being more prevalent.
"The History Boys" doesn't sugarcoat the sexuality, these are boys growing up and learning about themselves, which includes crushes and dating. There's no impropriety, even with Hector's occasional groping.
The only qualm someone may have with "The History Boys" is that the actors aren't boys. They are in their 20s and are playing 17 year olds. Sure they look a little mature for their age, but really now, for some reason Hollywood doesn't often employ actual teenagers for teenage roles. And the cast has had the experience of the stage to add to their characters. So don't mind the maturity, they can be boys for as long as they want since they do it so well.
