Educating Rita (1983)

At first,ye,ye Julie Walters is a working class woman,awkward husband who doesn't want her to go to tutorials with Tutor Michael Caine.Then she becomes too knowledgeable nd know it all,distancing her from the prof.Yep sums up the film.Yet I watched it in silence,and it hurt.Her flatmate Trish saying'when there is no poetry and music it's just me,and that's not enough'.It was a bit close for comfort,yes it's a funny film,but the quandary Rita ends up in is too true.But as she says'at least I have the choice'.Lifes what you make it I suppose. I think if there is any film too watch that you can genuinely learn from,this is the one. Eleanor

Fmovies: In London, the twenty-seven year-old hairdresser Rita (Julie Walters) decides to complete her basic education before having children as desired by her husband Denny (Malcolm Douglas). She joins the literature course in an open university and has tutorial with the middle-aged Dr. Frank Bryant (Michael Caine) that is an alcoholic and deluded professor from the upper-class without self-esteem. Frank lives with the also Professor Julia (Jeananne Crowley) and they have a loveless relationship; Julia has a love affair with the dean Brian (Michael Williams). The amusing Rita gives motivation to Frank to prepare her for the exams to join the university while she leaves Denny and moves to the house of the waitress Trish (Maureen Lipman), who loves Gustav Mahler and is a cult woman. Will she succeed in the exams?

"Educating Rita" is an unknown little gem with a dramatic and funny story about culture clash and improvement of life status through education. The plot partially recalls the storyline of "Pigmalion" or "My Fair Lady" with the change of behavior of Rita through the education. The screenplay has little details that might be unobserved by the viewer, like for example Frank's bottle of whiskey hidden behind the book "The Lost Weekend" and witty dialogues. The top-notch Michael Caine has one of his best performances in the role of a refined and cultured man without self-esteem that finds motivation in life after finding a simple woman that gives a different perspective view of life for him. Julie Walters is simply fantastic. The result is a very human story of friendship that has not aged. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "O Despertar de Rita" ("The Awakening of Rita")

Having cast Michael Caine in "Alfie" some years earlier, director Lewis Gilbert reunited with him for the equally splendid "Educating Rita". Caine plays drunken, burned-out literature teacher Frank Bryant. Frank seems just about at the end of his rope when he meets hairdresser Rita (Julie Walters), who wants to continue her education. In the process, they both learn some things from each other.

This may sound like a cliché, but it's not here. They never let the movie turn into a sugary mess; they keep it strong from beginning to end. Michael Caine reaffirmed himself as possibly the Union Jack's most dependable actor of the post-war period, and Julie Walters jump-started a formidable career that would include "Billy Elliot" and the "Harry Potter" movies. Lewis Gilbert went on to direct "Shirley Valentine", another movie that everyone should see.

Educating Rita fmovies. I was introduced to this movie when I was 5 and though I had no idea about the issues being dealt with I was mesmerized. As an American child I was fascinated by the "ultra-odd" culture and cars and streets and language and I loved every second of it. I think I've judged every film since by this one which would explain why I've never really enjoyed the "Hollywood happy ending". I think my favorite line is when Rita says, "It's fun, tragedy, isn't it?". AMEN. I rediscovered it in college and understood that Rita's journey for education came full circle, without convenient resolution, and I can completely relate. Great acting, great directing, truly a human drama ... I'd long for a sequel if sequel's weren't so damn awful. Brava Julie!

Whatever its faults and flaws might be, I've never been able - or wanted to - get 'Educating Rita' out of my head. What makes it so memorable, such a touchstone? Is it Julie Walters's expressive face? Is it Michael Caine's professor being chivvied from his sodden rut by the pixilated yet determined Rita? Is it the wit and good humor and Rational-enquiry-and-argument-as-drama of the screenplay? Is it the dated electronic score that somehow dates the film but not its cerebral or emotional impact? Truth is I don't know what makes 'Educating Rita' so memorable for me - in my head scenes and snippets of this film just pop up and play whenever they've a mind to! - and perhaps that's what makes this film exemplary as movie magic. It deserved and deserves more viewers - whether or not they'll like isn't important: as Rita/Susan says, she now has "choices" - and in my head when its scenes play I can't help giving it unending applause.

Michael Caine and TV favourite Julie Walters shine wonderfully in this film, which tells the story of 26-year-old Rita (Walters) wanting to discover herself by attending the Open University, where alcohol dependant Dr. Frank Bryant (Caine) is a teacher.

The movie follows these two main characters change and reevaluate their lives for the better through each other. Caine and Walters' chemistry is simply divine, and Maureen Lipman also makes an appearance as over the top and eccentric Trish, who on the outside, is this confident, bubbly woman, but on the inside is hurting badly because of her fears of being alone.

Both Caine and Walters won Best Actor and Best Actress awards for their performances (at the BAFTAs), and the movie itself won Best Film in 1984, and one look at Educating Rita tells you why. It's a film that's simply full of warmth and charm.

A strong British film and the perfect debut for the now legendary Julie Walters.