A Teacher

As a realistic portrayal of a forbidden sexual affair, or even of the misery of mental illness, it is pathetic. As an involuntary comedy, it can give you a laugh or two, as the teacher basically does everything short of advertising in the super bowl that she's fucking the hell out of her pupil.

Remarkably accomplished and stylistically assured, "edgy" and "disturbing" in mostly all the right ways. If the film has any major flaw, it's that the narrative opacity at times perhaps feels like a way for Fidell to bypass important character psychology, rather than being "enigmatically" psychologically opaque the way the best films of this type are. Also, the film loses some of it's formal rigor as it takes a more "dramatic" turn towards the end. Still a very impressive work nonetheless.

Eros and the self-destruction instinct become one. This is definitely in the same mold as this new American minimalism (see also Martha Marcy May Marlene, Afterschool) but not quite as rigorous. It runs out of steam, even at 75 minutes, but Burdge is pretty amazing. A little too serious yet weirdly not enough really happens.