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The Teacher (2016)

Name: The Teacher
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Released: 2016-07-21
Duration: 102 min
Rating: 6.8
Cast: Zuzana Mauréry, Csongor Kassai, Zuzana Konečná, Tamara Fischer, Martin Havelka

The Teacher (2016), directed by Jan Hřebejk, starring Zuzana Mauréry and Csongor Kassai.

07/21/2016 BR Comedy and Drama 1h 42m

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Synopsis

The principal of an elementary school calls a special parents meeting after it’s alleged that the seemingly empathetic and kindly-looking teacher Mrs. Drazděchová uses her students to manipulate their parents.

Martin ŽiaranCinematography
Jan HřebejkDirector
Vladimír BarákEditing
Jan PrušinovskýProducer

About the film

The Teacher (Slovak: Učiteľka) is a 2016 Slovak-Czech black comedy film directed by Jan Hřebejk which premiered at the 2016 Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, where Zuzana Mauréry received an award for best actress.

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Plot

The film is set in 1983, Czechoslovakia. Mária Drazdechová becomes a teacher at a suburban school near Bratislava. She uses her position to blackmail parents of her students to get benefits from them. Students whose parents disobey are bullied and given bad grades. The head teacher is afraid to intervene as Drazdechová is chairperson of the school Communist Party branch. One of Drazdechová's students attempts suicide as a result of the bullying. This induces the school principal to call the parents for a meeting about a petition to remove Drazdechová from the school. There are parents whose children were bullied by Drazdechová and others who support her. Most of the parents are afraid of the teacher's connections and do not want to sign. The meeting ends in failure as only three families sign. It seems that Drazdechová has won, but some families later change their minds and return to sign the petition. This results in Drazdechová being removed from the school.

The film shifts to 1991, two years after the Velvet Revolution. Drazdechová becomes a teacher once again. The movie concludes with the same scene from the beginning — Drazdechová asks all her students about their parents' jobs. The only difference is that on the classroom wall hangs a portrait of Václav Havel instead of Gustáv Husák.

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Release

Box office

The Teacher grossed $64,437 in the United States and Canada and $1.9 million in other countries for a worldwide total of $1.9 million.

Critical response

On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 91% based on 32 reviews, with an average rating of 7.25/10. Metacritic reports a score of 77 out of 100, based on 8 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

References

External links

The Teacher at IMDb

https://variety.com/2016/film/reviews/the-teacher-review-ucitelka-1201811487/

http://www.pubres.sk/ucitelka/

http://www.levelk.dk/films/the-teacher/2593

Text from The Teacher (2016 film) on Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Teacher_(2016_film)

Trivia

It grossed US$ 1.4 million worldwide.
It premiered on July 21, 2016, a Thursday.
It runs 1h42 — a typical feature length.
Its original title is "Učiteľka".
As of September 20, 2026, it is available in Brazil by subscription on Cindie Amazon Channel.
This film's quiz has 9 questions — enough to play more than once without repeats.

Production

StudiosPubRes, RTVS, Offside Men, Česká televize
CountriesCzech Republic, Slovakia
LanguagesRussian, Slovak
Box officeUS$ 1,350,426
StatusReleased

More about this film

Set in

Slovak Socialist Republic

Where to watch

Cindie Amazon Channel Streaming

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Crew

Martin Žiaran Cinematography
Jan Hřebejk Director
Vladimír Barák Editing
Jan Prušinovský Producer
Kateřina Ondřejková Producer
Ľubica Orechovská Producer
Ondřej Zima Producer
Tibor Búza Producer
Zuzana Mistríková Producer
Michal Novinski Original music
Petr Jarchovský Screenplay

Questions about this film

What is The Teacher about?

The Teacher: The principal of an elementary school calls a special parents meeting after it’s alleged that the seemingly empathetic and kindly-looking teacher Mrs. Drazděchová uses her students to manipulate their parents.

Who directed The Teacher?

The Teacher was directed by Jan Hřebejk in 2016.

Who stars in The Teacher?

The cast of The Teacher includes Zuzana Mauréry, Csongor Kassai, Zuzana Konečná, Tamara Fischer and Martin Havelka.

How long is The Teacher?

The Teacher runs for 102 minutes, or 1h42.

Where can I watch The Teacher?

The Teacher is available on Cindie Amazon Channel. Availability changes often: the list on this page is the most recent we received.