Razredni sovraznik
Director: Rok Bicek
Writer: Rok Bicek, Nejc Gazvoda, Janez Lapajne
Cast: Igor Samobor, Natasa Barbara Gracner, Tjasa Zeleznik, Masa Derganc, Robert Prebil, Voranc Boh, Jan Zupancic, Dasa Cupevski, Doroteja Nadrah, Spela Novak, Pia Korbar, Dan David Mrevlje Natlacen, Jan Vrhovnik, Kangjing Qiu

[Trigger Warning: Suicide]

Plot:
Robert Zupan (Igor Samobor) just started as a German teacher in a new school, taking over from pregnant teacher Nusa (Masa Derganc) who goes on maternity leave. Nusa’s class got along extremely well with her and they really don’t like Robert, especially since he is a very strict teacher where Nusa was rather soft. And then one of the students, Sabina (Dasa Cupevski) kills herself after talking to Robert – which is just what the class needed to start a full-blown rebellion.

Razredni sovracnik was an excellent and thoughtful film – right until the end where it clubs you to death with its moral.

[SPOILERS]

The movie starts off with a rather neutral look at the situation: Robert is certainly an asshole. The kids certainly don’t make his life any easier. Transitions are generally hard and they are complicated by several factors in this case. When Robert talks to Sabina, it is obvious he wants her best, but it is also obvious that nobody should ever be talked to so harshly, especially not a teenager/child, especially not in a fragile state, especially not by an authority figure they hardly know.

When the kids blame Robert for Sabina’s suicide, it’s easy to see why – and his talk with her certainly didn’t help matters. But clearly one talk doesn’t push a person who is doing well and where everything else is ok into killing themselves. Robert might be an ass but he didn’t kill her, not even a little bit. That the kids try to channel their grief (less at the death of their fellow student and more at the destruction of their safe place) and pinpoint one thing that is clearly to blame, is as understandable as it goes too far.

And the film does a wonderful job dissecting those dynamics, showing the reasoning of the involved people who all want to do what’s right and who are all wrong in their own way. The cast is up for the task, the script is sometimes a little too on the nose but generally does an admirable job and the pacing is good.

Unfortunately all of those things are overshadowed by the ending where Robert holds a long monologue – the final words in the film, making it the film’s final statement (there is a wordless scene afterwards which supports those words, too). In that monologue Robert tells the student, basically, that they missed the chance to grow up and make their decisions in this case and at least Sabina, with her suicide, decided for something. Apart from the fact that that is an extremely questionable message to send, giving Robert the power to make that moral judgement runs completely counter to what the film did before. And that kinda ruined it for me.

Summarizing: Worth it for most of the time, just ignore the ending.