Moral Rules

'Spring Awakening' was a round breaking play at the beginning of 20th century, that honestly addressed the detrimental impact of the Victorian prudishness vs. The natural budding sexuality of teenagers. But how relevant is it today? We almost have the opposite issue - minors being exposed to sex too much without proper guidance.

'Moral Rules' is a modern adaptation of 'Spring Awakening', and the focus has shifted from the prudishness to exploitation. Melchior in 'Spring Awakening' was simply a boy who was too intelligent for his time, but in 'Moral Rules', he is an active abuser and manipulator (until he finds himself getting abused by the authority, that is). It is an interesting twist on the original, but not sure how it's going to be perceived by the audience.

Overall it's not entirely successful as a film. The lines are bit too wordy and too vague (or philosophical) to ring true to the modern sensibility, and actors being clearly all adults takes away the sense of the characters being teenagers. The saving grace is the acting. All 4 main actors. They keep the tricky balance between the theatricality of the play setting and more naturalistic flow of the film format (the actors who play the minor role of teachers are weaker, but not enough to take down the entire film).

It's an interesting watch, but it won't achieve the significant implication of the original play.