HISTORY BOYS LEARN THEIR LESSON

The Tony award winning play The History Boys written by Alan Bennett makes its screen debut starring Dominic Cooper and Samuel Barnett, students of a British school for boys with dreams of attending Ivy League colleges in Oxford and Cambridge. Dominic and Samuel say their schooling wasn’t half as glamorous as depicted in the film.

The classes are taught unconventionally by Hector played by Richard Griffiths who reprises his Tony winning performance in the film. His teaching curriculum came second to discussions about sex and sports. Dominic says he wishes his teachers used some of Hector’s methods.

“I didn’t quite have the same teaching methods at my school and the classes had about five times more people in them. Apart from that completely the same. No, they were totally different. I think Alan’s written something that is really stylized and not meant to be realistic as these boys are far more intelligent and clever and witty than any boys I know certainly than I ever was at school.”

In The History Boys Hector wanted to know a little bit more of his students’ personal qualities, and would give them rides home on his motorcycle for the opportunity. Samuel agrees that any teacher in the states would be reported directly to the principal.

“It would be wonderful if teachers could teach in the way that Hector teaches in school. My experience in school no teachers could because of the guidelines they had to stick to and the league tables. It would be wonderful if a teacher could see the qualities in every pupil that teacher had.”

The History Boys opens tomorrow in select cities.

“You know it is inappropriate. It’s inappropriate and indefensible but this film is not an issue film about that. It’s in there but it’s just kind of not about that. The whole thing is a kind of utopia I suppose where things do get dealt with differently. And as I say there’s no defending what Hector does but the boys are in charge.”