JohnHowardReid
Set in a small, isolated Canadian town during the Great Depression of the 1930s, "Why Shoot the Teacher?" was superbly photographed on natural locations. Furthermore, it tells a true story. This is a combination that certainly holds the interest, but there is more: Led by Bud Cort and Samantha Eggar, all the players comes across as real people in real situations. Thanks to these compelling performances, the actual dramatic and comic incidents portrayed in this slice of rural life come across with real impact.The film is also blessed with a delightful period music score and clever sound effects. It's certainly an odd film from director Silvio Narizzano, obviously lensed over a long period of time on a tight budget, but containing few of the director's usual tricks. Perhaps that's all to the good. This movie certainly holds its own against more widely touted but similar films.
N. P.
I think this movie was a good depiction of Canada in the 1930s because of many factors such as food, shelter, salary, employment, poor living conditions and harvesting crops. They were all problems in the movie as well as in the 1930s. Max Brown's friend was riding the rods in search for a job, and Max Brown was complaining about his salary. This would be something which would be included in a persons everyday life in the 1930s. Another thing which would be included is the living conditions, it wasn't too well for Max Brown as well as the food and water, it had to be provided for so many people and it wasn't as easy to get as it seemed. Harvesting crops were also a problem because of the bad weather conditions, this leaded to food problems and farmers going through difficult times. Overall this movie is a good explanation of the 1930s all the key factors included, they were realistic and interesting.
Q. L.
"Why Shoot the Teacher" was a believable depiction of Canada during the Great Depression period. Max Brown travels to the prairies for a teaching position in a school house. Before this period, he would have had a job in the city as a teacher, however since it was the period of the "roaring twenties", many people lost jobs and were forced to look elsewhere or die penniless. The prairie folk had little to no money and their children helped gain as much money as possible by catching gopher tails for 20 cents apiece, delivered by the government. The crops were poor due to the drought on the prairies, the dust storm, and the grasshopper plague. Many of these elements were depicted in the movie, and thus it is a believable depiction.
Rovin
This film was about a teacher who moves to a rural community--and has trouble adjusting to his class--made up of farmers' children. My problem with it is that like so many Canadian films, it gets dull, and takes sharp twists in the narrative that just dont make any sense.SPOILER: Bud Cort's character has alot of trouble trying to win over the rustic students...and then, suddenly--the children decide to go rush outside and chase prairie dogs to rip off their tails! Somehow, this wins over the teacher--who suddenly loves his class!It was an inappropriate change of heart in the teacher--not supported by the actions of the children...and explaining it away as "quirky" or "off-beat" simply doesnt work. END SPOILER
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