Movies about institutions for schooling the unschoolable used to be a big part of British cinema, whether sly, subversive comedies like the St. Trinian’s franchise or heavy social dramas, which flourished in the wake of Alan Clarke’s 1979 prison movie Scum. As a genre, it’s been dormant for a while, but it has taken a Belgian (director Tim Mielants) and an Irishman (star/producer Cillian Murphy) to bring it back, and though it breezes by at a surprisingly brisk pace, Steve packs a lot of deep thought into a seemingly slight tale.
The film takes place over the course of a day or two at a school named Stanton Wood; the year is 1996, and a TV crew from TV’s Point West show has arrived to record an item for the late-night edition. They appear to come in good faith, intrigued by the good work being done by headmaster Steve (Murphy) with kids from underprivileged backgrounds. But in a piece to camera later, the presenter reveals the real reason they are there: “Some call it a last chance, some call it an expensive dumping ground for lost causes.” Given that the scheme costs the taxpayer £30k a year, it’s no surprise that resources have been dwindling lately, and this news item certainly won’t help that.
It begins with Steve driving, but not to work. First he goes to a field where Shy, one of his students, is smoking a joint and dancing to drum’n’bass on his headphones. Steve gently coaxes him back to school, where the film crew is causing havoc. The texture of the news footage is suitably grainy, like VHS, but it stitches seamlessly in to the vérité style of the film itself, a restless sea of handheld camera that becomes more agitated as its protagonist does. The catalyst for this a meeting with the school’s board — who look more like trustafarian hedge managers than social workers — where it is revealed that the grand but crumbling school building is going to be sold off at the end of the year.
Mielants’ thoughtful, affecting film is about the repercussions of that meeting, and while Steve struggles to accept the fact that his life’s work is about to vanish before his eyes, we also see the TV crew’s footage of the young people in his care. They’re a strange bunch, physically and emotionally, and at times they can be charming, funny and cheeky (“You can’t just casually call me a d*ck and a poof,” Steve explains wearily to one of the boys). They can also be caustic and, in a disturbing new trend, prone to turning violent, as the school’s psychologist (Emily Watson) attests. The school’s deputy, Amanda (Tracy Ullman) summarizes the situation with a succinct outline of her duties. “I’m part prison warden, part nurse, part battleaxe, part mummy… And I f*cking love them.”
Who would want to give up so much of their time for kids like this, in an educational program described as “spectacularly unsustainable”? Murphy, sporting a beard and back to a healthy weight after Oppenheimer, does his best to explain that and, in doing so, really disappears into the part. Even martyrs can only take so much, however, and when Steve’s pent-up anger finds an outlet in drink and prescription drugs, we start to find out a little more about his tragic backstory and the life-changing event that now defines him.
There’s sufficient material here for a sentimental star vehicle, but Murphy generously shares the spotlight with a small but remarkable ensemble (kudos goes to casting director Robert Sterne for that). Chief among them is Ullman, who, like Murphy, is somehow never fazed by the frenetic ups and downs of life at the school, and then there are the kids themselves, a motley bunch whose neuroses and camaraderie recall the psych ward in Milos Forman’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.
There’s no Nurse Ratched here, however, but there is the kindly Steve, who watches out for all of them, especially Shy, who is hiding a secret from the others. Because of his violent fits, his mother has told him she and his stepfather will no longer see him — no phone calls, no visits. “But what if I need you?” he asks, incredulous and emotional. What indeed. At its heart, Steve is a bittersweet celebration of the art of being there for other people in their darkest moments, while acknowledging that it sometimes takes the patience of a saint to do so.
Title: SteveFestival: Toronto (Platform)Director: Tim MielantsScreenplay: Max PorterCast: Cillian Murphy, Tracey Ullman, Jay Lycurgo, Simbi Ajikawo, Emily WatsonDistributor: NetflixRunning time: 1 hr 32 mins
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