The Browning Version

I wasn't thinking of this question while I was watching The Browning Version last night, at least it wasn't in the forefront of my mind, but given the post immediately below, let me ask: how many of today's youth could take pleasure in such a subtly stirring movie as this? Very few, I think. Nothing explodes, there are no car chases or laser guns or aliens or super-heroes. It's in black and white, set at a post-war English boy's school, and takes a few scenes to get going. It has the thinnest of plots because so little actually happens on the screen. It's a quiet movie, consisting simply of people talking in different settings throughout a twenty-four hour period; words are said, motives revealed, realizations occur. It's a character study of a man who has failed himself and his students. He realizes, for the first time and on his last day on the job, the extent to which he is disliked. Michael Redgrave plays the lead role of schoolmaster Andrew Crocker-Harris and he is superb. It's hard to imagine anyone bringing more to the role. I'd go on but it would be hard to talk about without spoilers. Simply put, if you love a good story well-told, see The Browning Version.