They say you never forget a good teacher, but it's the bad ones who are truly unforgettable. This September, our Classics season goes back to school. Inspired by the new dark comedy Bad Apples, starring Saoirse Ronan and on general release from Friday 18 September, we're revisiting some of the most memorable teacher/student conflicts in cinema history, with a different classic screening every Sunday of the month. From spiteful playground rumours to punk-rock rebellion, these are the lessons that stay with you long after the final bell.
We open on Sunday 6 September with The Children's Hour [65th Anniversary]. Shirley MacLaine and Audrey Hepburn are superb in William Wyler's Oscar-nominated drama, an early and quietly devastating piece of queer cinema. Following the fallout from a single lie told by a spiteful child, it is a stark reminder of just how quickly a whisper of school gossip can curdle into tragedy.
From heartbreak to raucous chaos, Sunday 13 September cranks the volume all the way up for Rock 'n' Roll High School. Teen punkette Riff Randall (P.J. Soles of Carrie and Halloween) has one abiding fantasy: to meet the dreamy Ramones and get them to perform one of her songs. Standing in her way is Principal Togar (Warhol star Mary Woronov), who runs Vince Lombardi High like a despot, until the boys from Forest Hills lead a full student-body putsch and rock the school down to its very foundations.
The following Sunday, 20 September, brings an iconic turn from Bill Murray in Wes Anderson's Rushmore. The self-styled king of Rushmore prep school, precocious pupil Max Fischer, is put on academic probation, and soon finds himself fighting his own teacher for the affections of the same woman. Sharp, strange and endlessly quotable, this is Anderson at his early best, and a reminder that the fiercest classroom rivalries aren't always between the students.
We close the season on Sunday 27 September with the much-loved Dead Poets Society. Robin Williams delivers a stand-out performance as English professor John Keating, who inspires his students to a love of poetry and urges them to seize the day, even as he battles a rigid school system that refuses to let his pupils flourish. Carpe diem.
Looking for more? Back to School leads directly into our Dark Academia Freshers programme, a celebration of some of our favourite films about the strange social hierarchies of the education system. Dark Academia begins in early October.
Explore the series and book tickets at: https://showroomcinema.org.uk/festivals/back-to-school
By Grace Osbourne, Marketing Manager
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