Director: Sara Colangelo
By Alex Watson
There are few actresses that can make an indie darling sparkle like Maggie Gyllenhaal. In Sara Colangelo's Sundance award winner The Kindergarten Teacher, she is able to take a progressively disturbing yet identifiable character and make her engaging. Adapting the original 2014 Israeli film by Navad Lapid, Colangelo chronicles an uninspired 40-something teacher looking for an outlet in life and gives a firm commentary on the mentor-mentee boundaries.
Lisa Spinelli (Maggie Gyllenhaal) is a kindergarten teacher at a crossroads in life. Her husband Grant (Michael Chernus) is sweet but rather oblivious, her teenage children (Daisy Tahan and Sam Jules) barely need her. Attempting a poetry class in her spare time, her work is often greeted with lukewarm praise by teacher Simon (Gael Garcia Bernal). Out of nothing, Lisa finds five-year-old student Jimmy Roy (Parker Sevak) who shows great promise and is adept at waxing lyrical. However, her enthusiasm for him to show his full potential eventually spills over into obsession.
Perhaps the most intriguing part of The Kindergarten Teacher is how Colangelo presents Lisa to the audience. From the outset, the frustration at the banality and predictability of her world is apparent. Lisa simply going through the motions with little to inspire her. Her poetry often falls flat and it is obvious that she has more passion than natural talent. Her marriage is past its sell-by date and her two kids view her presence as an irritation. When she first meets Jimmy, his seemingly inane ramblings to himself are like a comet striking her world. From here, she attempts in more and more desperate ways to insert herself into his world. Colangelo begins to blur the lines and soon the relationship on screen become a source of debate for all concerned.
Lisa at first tries to convince his divorced father to encourage his poetic talents which he adamantly dismisses as he just wants his son to be a normal boy. Then she resorts to stealing his poetry and presenting it as her own which quickly turns her frosty professor's attention. What precisely is her motivation with Jimmy? Colangelo keeps this almost annoyingly ambiguous- is he a creative outlet? Or is something more sinister a play here? Her behaviour becomes increasingly less professional as she begins to contacting and seeking out the boy outside of school hours, waking him during naps times and exhibits a more possessive and unsettling attitude. Her life may lack substance, but there is something fascinating and absorbing about watching this descent into near delusion.
Predictably this character becomes more and more determined for the world to see a young man who doesn't wish to be seen. There is a last-ditch effort which makes us squirm uncontrollably in our chairs. Even so, Colangelo gives this an almost illuminating quality that makes it all the more watchable. Its conclusion itself is hard to define and we are sure precisely what is being hinted at, but it is clear that this young man has been through the wringer. Is Lisa a suitable wannabe mentor for this young man? Or is she simply an overly eager teacher whose crossed a serious line in both work and her personal life? Prepare for some hard questions as the credits roll.
Maggie Gyllenhaal shows just why she is one of Hollywood's most underrated leading ladies. It takes a special type of talent to make a borderline stalker seems engaging and likeable. Gyllenhaal is able to find a warmth and charm where some would struggle greatly. Young actor Parker Sevak also impresses as Jimmy and is able to add some increasingly nervous behaviour as the picture goes on.
The Kindergarten Teacher might be just outside of major awards contention, but its a reminder of how Maggie Gyllenhaal can anchor the smaller films.
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