"I call him religious who understands the suffering of others." - Mahatma Gandhi
Tony Kaye's "Detachment" stars Adrian Brody as substitute teacher Henry Barthes. The product of an abusive home, Barthes remains at a protective distance from other human beings. Rootless, anhedonic and without material or personal attachments, Barthes spends his days bouncing from school to school. Students don't matter. People don't matter.
Barthes' journey toward compassion and so connection begins when he meets Erica (Sami Gayle), a damaged prostitute. He takes Erica into his home, cares for her, their relationship offering respite from a world that is otherwise callous and indifferent. How indifferent? Throughout "Detachment", Kaye portrays the high-school, the streets, the family and the workplace as vile arenas. Teachers, principles, businessmen, children, adults, students...everyone on display is a cauldron of apathy, guided only by hate, ignorance, profit and self-gratification. How can such a society produce anything but monsters? How can such a society produce anything but burnt-out bodies, misery and sickness?
Kaye's solution, of course, is to try a little tenderness; inject a little love and empathy into the mix. It's a tactic which Barthes himself tries. But after hugging a depressed teenager, Barthes quickly becomes a child abuse suspect. It's a cruel irony. We no longer underestimate the power of a touch, smile, listening ear or kind word, but view such things with suspicion at best, signs of weakness at worst.
"Detachment" is said to be about the "problems with America's failing school system", but it's not really. Kaye has no interest in assigning blame to either teachers, parents or students. All may be simultaneously culpable, but for Kaye, these people and institutions are products of something else; something widespread, global and deeply entrenched. "The powers that be are dumbing us to death!" Barthes yells, as he rants about the dangers of what he calls a "marketing Holocaust". But no one listens.
"Detachment" boasts a fine performance by Adrian Brody, whose character represents the moral flip-side to his work in Ken Loach's underrated "Bread and Roses". The film has been criticised for being heavy-handed, bombastic and over-the-top, criticisms which are all true. "Detachment's" last act, which contains a clichéd suicide and much forced "tragedy", is itself mostly a mess. But some of this can be excused; shot on a low budget and in a just a handful of days, what Kaye achieves given the limitations imposed upon him is admirable. In a world of vacuous spectacle, a humble film with a point is a thing to celebrate.
7.9/10 – A good film, despite a poor second half. See "Half Nelson".
Tony Kaye's "Detachment" stars Adrian Brody as substitute teacher Henry Barthes. The product of an abusive home, Barthes remains at a protective distance from other human beings. Rootless, anhedonic and without material or personal attachments, Barthes spends his days bouncing from school to school. Students don't matter. People don't matter.
Barthes' journey toward compassion and so connection begins when he meets Erica (Sami Gayle), a damaged prostitute. He takes Erica into his home, cares for her, their relationship offering respite from a world that is otherwise callous and indifferent. How indifferent? Throughout "Detachment", Kaye portrays the high-school, the streets, the family and the workplace as vile arenas. Teachers, principles, businessmen, children, adults, students...everyone on display is a cauldron of apathy, guided only by hate, ignorance, profit and self-gratification. How can such a society produce anything but monsters? How can such a society produce anything but burnt-out bodies, misery and sickness?
Kaye's solution, of course, is to try a little tenderness; inject a little love and empathy into the mix. It's a tactic which Barthes himself tries. But after hugging a depressed teenager, Barthes quickly becomes a child abuse suspect. It's a cruel irony. We no longer underestimate the power of a touch, smile, listening ear or kind word, but view such things with suspicion at best, signs of weakness at worst.
"Detachment" is said to be about the "problems with America's failing school system", but it's not really. Kaye has no interest in assigning blame to either teachers, parents or students. All may be simultaneously culpable, but for Kaye, these people and institutions are products of something else; something widespread, global and deeply entrenched. "The powers that be are dumbing us to death!" Barthes yells, as he rants about the dangers of what he calls a "marketing Holocaust". But no one listens.
"Detachment" boasts a fine performance by Adrian Brody, whose character represents the moral flip-side to his work in Ken Loach's underrated "Bread and Roses". The film has been criticised for being heavy-handed, bombastic and over-the-top, criticisms which are all true. "Detachment's" last act, which contains a clichéd suicide and much forced "tragedy", is itself mostly a mess. But some of this can be excused; shot on a low budget and in a just a handful of days, what Kaye achieves given the limitations imposed upon him is admirable. In a world of vacuous spectacle, a humble film with a point is a thing to celebrate.
7.9/10 – A good film, despite a poor second half. See "Half Nelson".