The film is like a mirror opposite of DEAD POET’S SOCIETY. An unconventional teacher instills art and individualism in the students against the wishes of the school’s establishment. The differences are that MISS JEAN BRODIE takes place in a girl’s school and the film looks at the free-thinking teacher negatively.
In an Oscar winning performance, Maggie Smith (HARRY POTTER) plays Jean Brodie, a bohemian teacher whose personality brightens the room when she enters, but also singes the drapes as well. Each year, Brodie picks four girls to become her special “Brodie Girls,” which she tries to mold in an image that she feels fit. The students we meet are the dependable Sandy (Pamela Franklin, THE LEGEND OF HELL HOUSE), the beautiful Jenny (Diane Grayson, BLIND TERROR), the emotional Monica (Shirley Steedman, 1970’s JANE ERYE) and the stutter Mary Macgregor (Jane Carr, TV’s DEAR JOHN).
Right from the beginning Brodie has conflicts with the headmistress Miss Mackay (Celia Johnson, BRIEF ENCOUNTER) over her methods, but Brodie is so beloved by the board Mackay can do very little about it. The girls quickly discover that Brodie is having an affair with the married art teacher Teddy Lloyd (Robert Stephens, 1989’s HENRY V), who the flighty teacher spurns for doting music teacher Gordon Lowther (Gordon Jackson, 1969’s HAMLET).
What makes the film so intriguing is that besides that fact that Brodie is cocky and a fascist we are drawn in by her personality. Smith’s performance is amazing in its subtly. As the film goes on, we slowly get the impression that Brodie is a bad influence on her students. Before too long she’s advocating that her girls help fascist Spanish leader Franco. What makes Brodie so dangerous is that she is easy to fall for and half of what she says you might agree with, but her beliefs are naïve and based on nothing but airy ideals of art, beauty and truth. In reality, Brodie is incapable of understanding what is true. Though most of her girls end up as her puppets, Sandy knows differently and sees through Brodie’s façade. The performances are solid across the board. Franklin is notable.
The girls play themselves at 14 and 17 and the filmmakers do a remarkable job of making the girls look their age even though one of them was a 20-year-old mother. One trick used has to raise the height of the desks in earlier scenes to make the girls look smaller.
The film is very notable for two main factors. Smith’s performance is remarkable and it’s the only film that I’ve ever seen that deals with the potential negative effect of teachers on their students. This might be a hard title to find, but its well worth the look.
Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
Creator of Rick's Flicks Picks
