The quality of the LGBT movies has been increasing during the latest years, with a number of productions easily “winning” the title of “good movie” and not just “good LGBT movie”, as you can also see in the list we published a couple of weeks ago. Let us see if “The Teacher” can be included in this category.
The Teacher screened at Helsinki Cine Aasia
The story starts a bit before Taiwan became the first Asian country to permit same sex marriage (24 March 2019). Kevin is a young high-school civics teacher living with his mother. He is a supporter of the law for same sex marriage and in general, his life is comfortable, apart from some “instructions” from the school principal regarding his extracurricular activities and the occasional, immature mocking from his students. Eventually, he meets Gao Jin Wu, an older man whose family owns a factory and the two begin a rather intimate relationship, and soon move together. Their situation, however, is anything but idyllic since Jin Wu has a health issue, his wife is still part of the picture, while Kevin's troubles at school eventually become much more significant.
Starting with a rather impressive intro of a live performance, Chen Ming Lang introduces the story of a young man whose purpose is to highlight all the issues homosexual men face these days both in Taiwan and globally. The pressure to hide their sexual preferences, which derives from all institutions (family, work etc) is the most central one, as much as the consequences of any kind of similar revelation, which mostly come from the people who comprise any highly conservative society. The HIV issue becomes a main factor eventually, in connection with all the aforementioned, while one of the most interesting parts of the narrative is the impact the relationship has to Jin Wu's wife, with Winnie Shih-Ying Chang giving a great performance in the part. On a secondary and not particularly fulfilled comment, the story also touches on the consequences of social media in modern society.
Another great aspect of the narrative is the way Kevin is presented, with Chan Ming Lang creating a portrait that is by no means heroic, highlighting both his traits and his faults in the same fashion, thus adding to the realism the film offers. Oscar Chiu is quite good in the part, despite some hyperbole here and there, stressing both the self-centered/spoiled and the caring and giving nature of his character. The apogee of his performance and of the whole film actually, is the scene with the school meeting, as he presents his inner struggle and his barely kept restraint in the best fashion, with the same applying to the multi-leveled ignorance the rest of the members of the council show.
Somewhere here, however, is where the main issues of the movie lie, most of which derive from the script-writing. The fact that Kevin is also the singer of a band, the ignorance exhibited by Jin Wu's family, the constant lack of reaction, under any circumstances by Jin Wu and that the protagonists in an LGBT movie look, once again, like models, strips much from the overall realism and impact of the movie, as it makes the story far-fetched.
Technically, however, “The Teacher” is quite well shot. DP Eden Feng uses digital cameras to add to the realism of the movie, in a choice that allows it to look like a documentary quite frequently. Chen Hsiao Ton and Chen Ming Lang's editing implements a relatively fast pace that suits the narrative quite nicely.
“The Teacher” is a well-shot, interesting film, but could have been a lot better if a few better choices were made in the script. Thus, to answer the question of the prologue, it comes close, but is not quite there.
