The Kindergarten Teacher

Maggie Gyllenhaal, Gael Garcia Bernal,

Parker Sevak

"A Fine line Between nurturing And obsession"

NETFLIX

This remake of a 2014 Israeli film is ranked 163 in the 250 best films on Netflix. It stars the talented Maggie Gyllenhaal as a 40 something kindergarten teacher named Lisa Spinelli. It seems that Lisa is stuck in a rut. 

Her grown children are always busy with their studies and constantly prefer social media over some family bonding times. Her husband Grant is solid yet there is an invisible wall between them.  Lisa is enrolled in a writing class so she can revive her lost dream, a life filled with poetry, supports art, or language. In short, being an intellectual in a world where social media has invaded every single aspect of our lives.

Enter Jimmy, a student in her kindergarten class who can recite his own poetry without any effort. Lisa becomes so fascinated with Jimmy's artistic talent, she even passes his poems as her own in her writing class. It climbs to an obsession as she hounds the little kid to come up with more poems, even giving him her cellphone number so Jimmy can call her up each time he comes up with a poem.

This very simple movie tackles with good precision the really thin line between nurturing pure talent and obsessing over it. For me, Lisa means well. She is part of a dying breed of individuals who prefer books, poetry and anything artistic than be caught up in a world of mediocrity. So I do understand her frustration, and her anguish, but her questionable method of harnessing Jimmy's talent is quite stalker-like and very creepy, indeed.  

On the other hand, there is no doubt that Jimmy is a genius. Even at such a young young, his brain is wired differently. I don't think he can even process just how talented he is. But this does not mean that Lisa can just 'invade' his brain and literally kidnap him, to hold him hostage as what happened towards the open ended conclusion. Mind you, even Jimmy realized that fact when he called the police and told the authorities, he was kidnapped. 

Maggie Gyllenhaal is brilliant in any role and as Lisa, she is very good in capturing the teacher's soulful and spirited persona. The little boy who portrays Jimmy is equally good, given that it is very difficult for child actors to look natural on screen. 

"The Kindergarten Teacher" is a slow burn but also very provocative. My advise is to watch it without being highly judgmental towards Lisa. Instead dig deep, and even though it is difficult, please try to fully understand where she is truly coming from. In these arduous times, tolerance goes a long way. I end with  a quote from Lisa which is sad yet very accurate.

Talent is so fragile and so rare. And our culture does everything to crush it. I mean even at four or five, they're coming into school attached to their phones, talking only about TV shows and video games. It's a materialistic culture, and it doesn't support art, or language, or observation. Even my own children, who are great, they don't read. You know, you think maybe it's just a phase. But I worry that it's something larger. A lack of curiosity. A lack of reflection. No one has space for poetry.