I had no expectations upon watching the movie, The Kindergarten Teacher. Let me preface this by saying how could any writer – novelist, poet or artist – not value the message demonstrated here? I won’t give too much about the movie, but I advise any creator of words or pictures to see this independent drama.
Gyllenhaal plays the kindergarten teacher, named Lisa Spinelli, who we immediately understand is isolated and worlds away from a seemingly satisfying life she leads. She is then engrossed in one of her students, a precocious boy whose poetic talent is way beyond his years. We then find Mrs. Spinelli becoming strangely attached to his elusive gift, driving herself to preserve it. Okay… *exhales* I will stop there.
Mrs. Spinelli – You’re something else
Throughout the film, you’re left with this unsettling feeling, nestled in the pit of your stomach, aching to see how the plot will unfold. The Kindergarten Teacher was pleasantly uncomfortable to watch. I felt like some rag doll being fought between two 7-year-old girls – pulled one way and then the other – eager to know what will happen next. I couldn’t decide on how to feel about Mrs. Spinelli who, you’ll realize, remains frustratingly incomprehensible, even to the very end. Some might relate to her – the mid-life crisis complex, the crossroad or dead-end after fulfilling the quintessential adulthood prophecy, or the mere painful realization that you never truly attained your dream. You then want to feel sorry for her yet scorn her for her wildly inappropriate behavior. All in all, you might find yourself renouncing her unusual and unforgivable tendencies, thinking, “uh-huh, uh-huh, sure, sure,” and crossing your legs and rubbing your chin whilst thinking she’s mental.
In the last ten minutes of the film, the viewer then realizes Gyllenhaal’s impetus all along, which was said several times in the film. Then, it wasn’t, however, quite believable given her capricious disposition. Only at the end did I sympathize with her more, appreciating (yet not entirely agreeing) with her dire (and obsessive) efforts to protecting this character – this boy – or to some, this abstraction. It left me slapping my knee, in deep thought, and applauding her for her purpose all along, in spite of her aberrant conduct.
The Kindergarten Teacher’s bottom line
Like most indie dramas, there is some nebulous message waiting to be revealed, which with this movie, I won’t say. The message at the end of The Kindergarten Teacher, I feel, artists should invariably remember. Keep it and store it away, somewhere encased, locked away and behind a velvet rope. Scribble it down, tuck it into the back pocket of your Levi’s and pull it out to read and re-read to remind yourself in case you forget.
