Venkovský Ucitel (The Country Teacher) (2008)

77% of critics liked it
(26 reviews)
70% of users liked it
(1,691 ratings)

A man struggles to understand and accept both himself and others in this pastoral drama from Czech filmmaker Bohdan Sláma. Petr (Pavel Liska) is a schoolteacher who has grown tired of life in Prague and wants out of his dead-end relationship with another man. Petr is still coming to terms with his… More A man struggles to understand and accept both himself and others in this pastoral drama from Czech filmmaker Bohdan Sláma. Petr (Pavel Liska) is a schoolteacher who has grown tired of life in Prague and wants out of his dead-end relationship with another man. Petr is still coming to terms with his sexuality, and he decides to take a job in a small farming community where he can start his life over. As Petr settles into his new teaching position, he strikes up a friendship with his neighbors -- a ruggedly independent single woman, Marie (Zuzana Bydzovská), and her handsome teenage son, Lada (Ladislav Sedivý). Petr gains a new lease on life in the country, but his simple life becomes profoundly difficult when he finds himself increasingly attracted to Lada, while Marie makes it clear she has strong feelings for Petr. Venkovský Ucitel (aka A Country Teacher) received its North American premiere at the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

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Directed By: Bohdan Sláma
Genres: Art House & International, Drama

In Theaters: Mar 20, 2008 Wide
Studio: Film Movement

Critic Reviews

Michael Upchurch, Seattle Times
The film boasts subtle performances and curious situations with unpredictable outcomes.
David Wiegand, San Francisco Chronicle
The film is graced with lovely performances by Pavel Liska as the teacher, Zuzana Bydzovska as Marie and Ladislav Sedivy as the boy.
, Washington Post
Despite all the pain and self-loathing of its wounded characters, it's a pretty, heartwarming picture that tells us everybody needs somebody to help shatter that ol' boulder for good.
Mark Feeney, Boston Globe
Liska, who looks like a Central European version of the young Harvey Keitel, has a kind of pitch-perfect opacity.
Andrew O'Hehir, Salon.com
It's a movie that demonstrates, if you'll pardon the sports metaphor, how deep the bench is in Eastern European film.
V.A. Musetto, New York Post
Directed by Bohdan Sláma, it deals with weighty issues -- loneliness, sexual identity, love (straight and gay) -- in a quiet, intelligent fashion.
Kelly Vance, East Bay Express
Figuring out the true situation is what writer-director Bohdan Sláma's beautifully nuanced character study is all about.
Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews
The didactic lecture on forgiveness was a bore and all the contrivances smelled like manure.
Sarah Boslaugh, Playback:stl
The actors are interesting rather than glamorous, their acting style consistently low-key, and their triumphs and failures realized on a human rather than grandiose scale.
Calvin Wilson, St. Louis Post-Dispatch
It's the kind of film that Hollywood used to excel at but no longer seems interested in making.
Boyd van Hoeij, european-films.net
This small, contemporary Czech marvel showcases two bright talents and a sentiment not seen often enough on screen nowadays: sincerity.
Mike Scott, Times-Picayune
A meaningful though patient drama built upon beautiful shots, a gentle humor and a great performance from Pavel Liska.
Chris Hewitt (St. Paul), St. Paul Pioneer Press
Teacher is a comedy-drama that feels real and humane and keeps finding ways to surprise us because its characters are as complicated as real people tend to be.
Fr. Chris Carpenter, Orange County and Long Beach Blade
Sometimes predictable, but it takes a number of surprising turns.
Steve Ramos, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
The stunning pastoral setting at the core of The Country Teacher provides a sly backdrop for the troubled triangle at the heart of the heartfelt drama Czech writer-director Bohdan Sláma.
Avi Offer, NYC Movie Guru
Has exquisite cinematography and occasional moments of tenderness, but its characters never truly come to life and its uneven screenplay doesn't fully explore their human struggles convincingly and sensitively enough to be make it an emotionally resonatin
John P. McCarthy, Boxoffice Magazine
A psychosexual rebirth occurs in a pastoral setting strewn with hay and intriguing links between human sexuality and insect behavior.

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Featured Audience Ratings

Mark A

This was a film that will make some very uncomfortable and that portrays some very real people dealing with some very real issues. Petr (Pavel Liska) is a tormented soul who relocates from a posh private school in Prague to a small-town public school. The reasons for his leaving only… More
This was a film that will make some very uncomfortable and that portrays some very real people dealing with some very real issues. Petr (Pavel Liska) is a tormented soul who relocates from a posh private school in Prague to a small-town public school. The reasons for his leaving only become clear as the film progresses. He befriends a widow, Marie (Zuzana BydzovskÃ¡), and her troubled son, Lada (Ladislav SedivÃ 1/2). But the friendship is hampered by Petr's personal issues, and by the history that his new friends have experienced. All of this is carefully revealed through a natural story-telling style that kept the viewer engaged. There were a few issues that rankled, including some playing to stereotype, and a couple of very annoying characters. Although the flaws keep this viewer from giving it more than three stars, it was not enough to put one off completely.
Walter M

In "The Country Teacher," the headmaster(Cyril Drozda) wonders why Petr(Pavel Liska) has come to the country from Prague to teach. Could it have something to do with his formerly teaching in the same school as his mother(Zuzana Kronerova)? Regardless, Petr fits in well in… More
In "The Country Teacher," the headmaster(Cyril Drozda) wonders why Petr(Pavel Liska) has come to the country from Prague to teach. Could it have something to do with his formerly teaching in the same school as his mother(Zuzana Kronerova)? Regardless, Petr fits in well in his new home, befriending Marie(Zuzana Bydzovska), a single mother and farmer, but chooses not to reciprocate her feelings. And he's gay, by the way. "The Country Teacher" is a gentle movie whose impact is lessened by its rambling episodic structure. On the other hand, it does work well with the bucolic setting of a small town where the rapid transit consists of tractors and a rowboat.(Actually, there is one bus...) And the movie gracefully treats its characters without condescension, using the slow pace of the characters' lives to represent the slow pace of the acceptance of gay rights in the Czech Republic. Along these same lines, the movie takes a very cautious approach(we find out Petr's gay when he tells his mom) and in a dark moment, it reinforces a particularly nasty stereotype.
Daisy M

The Country Teacher showed the love and loss from the people of a dairy farm in the Czech Republic. It was an inspiring movie about the struggle of a gay teacher for acceptance in a small village. The movie had beautiful cinematography of the Czech countryside.Most of the movie was… More
The Country Teacher showed the love and loss from the people of a dairy farm in the Czech Republic. It was an inspiring movie about the struggle of a gay teacher for acceptance in a small village. The movie had beautiful cinematography of the Czech countryside.Most of the movie was shown through the view of the main character, the teacher, but also showed us how things could be different, not always were gays accepted.The teacher clearly had secrets, the plot did not showed much as the movie fold on his integration into an environment different from the world of Prague where he came from.I don't want to go into details about the story, if the gay teacher should be forgiven for what he did or not, watch for yourself, it was very strong and very touching.

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Cast

Pavel Liska
as Teacher
Zuzana Bydzovská
as Marie
Ladislav Sedivý
as Boy
Marek Daniel
as Boyfriend
Tereza Vorísková
as Popsie
Milos Cernousek
as Principal
Zuzana Kronerová
as Mother
Miroslav Krobot
as Father
Cyril Drozda
Marie Ludvíková

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Venkovský Ucitel (The Country Teacher) (2008)

Critic Reviews

Featured Audience Ratings

Mark A

Walter M

Daisy M

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