The Water Is Wide

John Kent Harrison, who directed The Water is Wide, based on the novel written by Pat Conroy, does a wonderful job recreating Conroy's assignment at Beaumont County South Carolina's school (teaching the all-black kids of the pauper fishery community on Yamacraw Island).

Yamacraw Island (now Daufuskie Island, an upscale resort with practically no original inhabitants) is a poor, nearly all African-American coastal region with a two-room schoolhouse. The island's whites manage the store, the library (only opened if someone needs a book), the post office, and a ferry that connects residents to the mainland.

When the school is combined with the county school district, the superintendent (Frank Langella) tires to deliver a well-intended "better education" for the island's children. But, he soon takes note of Conroy's take on the ineffectiveness of a rigid "chain of command" style of management.

Conroy's "principal," (played by the wonderful Alfre Woodard), is a tough love proponent having little else to offer. Students in grades 5-8 can't read, write, or even cite which nation they live in. Worse, they don't know what the ocean (which surrounds them) is called. They have no grasp of history or simple arithmetic.

I won't deliver any more details other than to note Jeff Hephner's flawless, heartfelt, terrific performance where he's touching, moving, very funny, and inspirational. When he decides to move on he says, "I don't know who changed more, me or them" which was a perfect ending.

I see from an internet search that Pat Conroy, an able novelist (I've read The Great Santini, which tells you all you need to know about the Marine Corps, good and bad) "fictionalized" his experiences as a teacher in writing "The Water is Wide". In the Hallmark production, his character is named Pat Conroy, so the "fictionalization" didn't go too far. Even with a Marine fighter pilot for a father (which is also referred to in "The Water"), Pat has a whole lot of brass for a brand new teacher, and he almost never loses his smug smile (which, come to think of it, I think would drive a Marine father crazy).

But I think that Conroy's characterization, or the portrayal by Jeff Hephner, or direction by John Kent Harrison, or all of the above, might be as true-to-life as the hero's name or his Marine fighter pilot father.

So, how could a teacher facing so many difficulties have an unfailingly smug smile? If he took the absolutely worst teaching job in the State of South Carolina, which absolutely no other teacher wanted, it would give him a certain confidence. They might still fire him, but he would know every step of the way that he was doing it for love. I know from my own experiences that that situation gives you a certain buccaneer confidence. Maybe I smile smugly like that a lot. I guess I have a right. If you have right on your side, and it's your only friend, I guess you have a right to tease people a little about what your secret is.

This is a remake of the 1974 film "Conrack", starring John Voight as Pat Conroy. Both films were based on Conroy's autobiographical novel "The Water Is Wide". The 1974 film won a special UN award from the British Actors & Film Technicians Association and the screenplay was nominated for an award by the Writers' Guild of America. The new version, "The Water Is Wide", shows no improvement over the original.

The story is simple and pleasant. A new, young, white, male teacher gets a job teaching the upper grades in a all-black elementary school on an island off the coast of South Carolina. The principal, who teaches the junior grades, is black. She maintains discipline by beating the children. Pat Conroy does not believe in the effectiveness of corporal punishment; instead, he wins over the class with a combination of openness, honesty, humour and tough love.

If you have not seen Conrack, then I could recommend this film, if you do not mind predictable films. One could probably predict the main developments from what I have already said, so I will say no more.

Inspirational true story, And yes it is very good. James Welch Henderson, Arkansas 3/20/2021.

The Water is Wide is based on Pat Conroy's book of the same title. It recounts a year he spent teaching African-American children on a remote barrier island off the South Carolina coast in the late 1960s. Mr. Conroy was young, naive, idealistic, and controversial. There are people still living in the South Carolina Lowcountry who regret the outcome of the Civil War and the emancipation of slaves, who will tell you that this work is fictional and unfair to the school superintendent and the black teacher. From my own experience working in Georgia schools during the same period, I know that Conroy's observations are right on target.

It is interesting to contrast this Hallmark Hall of Fame movie with the earlier Conrack. While Conrack was contemporary reporting, this movie is more historical. Daufauskie Island (called Yamacraw in the book and both films) is fast becoming an exclusive resort community. Several generations of teachers have passed through the school and it has come under public scrutiny.

This film makes a genuine effort to look at the situation of the black teacher trying to satisfy a white administration. Alfre Woodard states that Mrs. Brown is a very unique sort of black woman that existed during that period. She plays the character with more subtlety than Madge Sinclair did. Jeff Hephner does a fine job as the idealist novice teacher in unfamiliar surroundings. He plays Conroy with less anger than Jon Voight did, but is more believable.