Mort d'un prof?

Ok, it's not a big picture, but for me it was a once in a five years kind of thing. Air loaded with anxiety without the the ease of deeply understanding the motives or reasons of the characters. These psychological thrillers of 70's and early 80's are all about the feel - the poetical anxiety of not being safe or being able to find reasons for evil behavior. For me this genre is pure gold and nowadays rarely approached. Unman... is a nice find for a friend of this shivering era.

When a school teacher dies in an accident, his replacement quickly begins to suspect his students of murder.

Using its theatrical origins to claustrophobic effect, Unman, Wittering and Zigo very cleverly builds up layer upon layer of tension and menace, as Hemming's naive and idealistic Mr. Ebony is quickly and easily outclassed by his pupils, seemingly at every turn. Dismissed by his headmaster, and humoured by both his wife and a fellow teacher, Ebony is slowly ground into submission by the boys as they repeatedly claim to have killed his predecessor. However, when the boys attempt an assault on his wife as a way of further controlling Ebony, the web they have spun begins to unravel until eventually another tragedy forces out the truth.

Chilly and chilling, Mackenzie is well-served by his actors, both adult and juvenile. Hemmings captures just the right note of bewilderment and impotence, whilst Seymour turns the potentially thankless role of Mrs. Ebony into a striking portrait of independence, determination and naturalism - her performance during the attempted assault by the boys is quite brilliant. Standout amongst the boys are Hoye, Owen and Cashman, all conveying stonewall confidence collectively, whilst allowing just the faint trace of fear and uncertainty when separated from their classmates. Unsettling allusions to Ebony's ambivalence and a vaguely sexual response to his ordeal add to the mix, and only a slightly dissatisfying and unbelievable conclusion mar what is otherwise a deeply disturbing, grown up story. Highly recommended, if you can track it down.

I came across this obscure and barely released film by chance,intrigued by it's synopsis. And like it happens with every buried treasure it was a revelation. Director John McKenzie, and cinematographer Geoffrey Unsworth, skilfully made this film into a close knit mystery with a bit of a disappointing ending which doesn't hurt the overall impression.

David Hammings is a new teacher at a boarding school who gets to teach a class from hell. Not by violence, but by sinister mind games,and subtle or not so subtle threats, they creep him into playing their game. What will happen is there to be seen. There is no need to explain why they are so twisted, there can be many reasons, and the boarding school system with it's rigid rules can be one of them, but than again, it may not be.This movie is not on DVD and it probably will never be, but mystery film buffs, if you come across this gem, be sure not to miss it.

It's a very peculiar movie, which perhaps could only have been fully explained in semi-supernatural terms, although it never takes that step. The later sequences where murder seems entirely possible (particularly as they terrorize Seymour) are very unsettling. The movie is also a pretty effective exploding of the public school upper-crust ethos, depicting the boys as determined to get good university scholarships (perceived by them as the next thing to a divine right) while doing as little work as possible. That aside, it's not very ambitious or enormously distinctive - the portrayal of the school beyond the class itself is pretty vague and Hemmings' specific strategy - focusing on finding the ringleader - is fairly indistinctly plotted. Leonard Maltin's review refers to the actual killer's identity being revealed after closing credits but that wasn't the case in the print seen here (quite a let down, actually). The movie should surely have reached further into metaphor or broader meaning or SOMETHING. But even so, it kept me watching until 3.15 am one morning.

Brooks?"Blackboard Jungle" in which Glenn Ford's wife is assaulted by the young guys.Anderson?"If" with its strict school and religion and sport as vectors of alienation.Vigo? (Check the name;it cannot be a coincidence;besides Zigo is always away during the whole movie)"Zero de conduite" the granddaddy of all these students rebellions.

With such references,the miracle is that "Unman,Wittering and Zigo" is a thoroughly original movie,what we usually call a sleeper.Extremely suspenseful,frightening without any special effect,it sustains interest till its last pictures.David Hemmings gives a good performance of this nice teacher ,literally under his students'thumb.What is really fascinating is the way they subdue him,the very polite way they speak;the story is implausible,but its implacable logic makes our blood run cold."We have killed your predecessor" they say to a first bemused teacher "It's a perfect crime".Hemmings 's character is completely lonely in his chic school where nobody wants to believe him ,not even his wife."We took you in hand" his students keep on repeating him.

SPOILERS:Once again,the punching bag subject comes to the fore;it makes sense that such a character should be the instigator of the crime .Being an outcast is ,to some,unbearable,and out of despair,he'd do anything to become part of the group.But what's bred in the bone comes out in the flesh:during the terrifying scene at the gym,this boy is once again humiliated .Although ,they treated their pal like a dog,they have lost their strange leader and they become children again,crying children in the last sequence.

"Unman ,Wittering and Zigo" is a disturbing movie;to the art teacher who tells him he ultimately solves the mystery,Hemmings answers :"but what can explain their behavior?"And as they carry their dead companion,the students walk hostilely towards the headmaster and his old fossils:the true rebellion has only begun.