The history boys : the film

I saw the film version of The History Boys and I fell in love with it. With an exam of my own looming , I felt like revisiting this material again. Both of the "History Boys" books (for the film and for the play) have lovely "extras" in them--The History Boys: The Film contains an introduction by

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director (of both the play and the film) Nicholas Hytner, a brief filming diary from Alan Bennett, and both behind-the-scenes and still photos from the movie, as well as the shooting script (including several scenes which were edited out of the final released film). The History Boys: A Play includes, along with the original play itself, an introduction by Alan Bennett in which he recounts his own memories of A-levels, sitting entrance exams, and going to Oxford. The dialogue and the characters in The History Boys are simply delightful and the commentary on education and on the effect teaching has on teachers is, I think, both brilliant and understated. I welcomed the opportunity to read both the play and the shooting script and compare them to the preserved end-product in the film. It's fascinating to see what was changed from play to film and what bits ultimately got left out (or edited out) from the script and what bits from the play wound up back into the film despite not being in the shooting script. Ultimately, I think I like better both the film's slightly more sympathetic portrayal of Irwin, whose position as a teacher just barely older than his students I find very easy to empathize with (though the similarities, for the most part, end there), and the subtlety that comes with the film's (necessary?) removal of most of the asides to the audience (though I can imagine that on-stage and think it likely works well there).

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