The Lesson – Film Review
by Frank L.

Director – Alice Troughton
Writer – Alex MacKeith
Stars – Richard E. Grant, Julie Delpy, Daryl McCormack

This film has a small but talented cast.  Firstly there is J.M. Sinclair (Richard E. Grant) whose success as a novelist has enabled him to live in some considerable style in an imposing house situated on a small lake. His wealth is such that he is able to employ an inscrutable butler Ellis (Crispin Letts) who is suitably deferential. His wife Helene Sinclair (Julie Delpy) is a successful mover and shaker from the world of contemporary art. Their teenage son Bertie (Stephen McMillan) is a sullen lad who appears not to be in harmony with his parents or their world. However, they are determined that Bertie obtains the necessary qualifications so that he can go to Oxford. This almost perfect household has a defect in that Felix, the elder son, died two years previously but his absence permeates the household, particularly J.M.Sinclair.

In order to ensure that Bertie gets into Oxford Helene employs Liam Somers (Daryl McCormack) to act as a private tutor. Liam is an aspiring writer, yet unpublished who has an uncanny ability to remember large tracts of literature without any apparent effort. It is a gift. He is an admirer of the works of J.M. Sinclair and is actually writing a thesis on him. However, Helene makes clear to him that he is there to tutor Bertie and he is not to pester J.M. Sinclair about his work. Liam comes from an entirely different social milieu as is exemplified by his mode of dress but he has well-attuned antennae.

A complex dance is played out between J.M. Sinclair, Helene, Bertie and Liam. There is an early scene where the lack of humanity in the household is distilled into an unseemly scene over the dinner table. J.M. is boorish, Helene is distant, Bertie is sullen and Liam is uncertain as to the dynamics of this well-heeled family but he reads, marks and inwardly digests what he has observed.

The role of literature and its creation is one of the dominant themes throughout the film. A surprising feature is that the young Liam is writing his novel long hand with a pen into a book while the much older J.M. Sinclair is typing his on a keyboard into a computer. J.M. Sinclair is not a natural with computers and he has problems with his printer. He asks Liam if he can sort it out, which he can but in the process, he becomes aware there is another device linked to his employer’s computer. When he asks questions the answers are evasive. He is intrigued.

Early on J.M. Sinclair in a public interview proclaims that good writers have the sense to borrow from their betters but great writers – great writers – steal.  He suggests that he and Liam read each other’s novels and then give a critique to each other. The plot then changes pace, proceeds into a thriller and moves at speed.

Grant, Delpy, McMillan and McCormack bring their very different individual talents to create an intriguing series of relationships. McCormack’s Liam is the character who makes the most appeal as he is furthest from the world of possessions and prestige with which the other three are surrounded. However, McCormack also manages to convey a sense of Liam’s fascination with that world. Grant creates a boorish monster in J.M. Sinclair to whom outward success is paramount but is secretly aware of his own shortcomings. Delpy creates an unemotional wife. You wonder does blood run in her veins but she is an effective gatekeeper to her successful literary husband. She also has a latent sexuality which she uses when it suits her. While McMillan is initially sullen and monosyllabic as Bertie he becomes expansive and revealing once Liam gains his confidence. The four of them make a complex quartet. Meanwhile Letts as Ellis is a splendidly inscrutable butler.  He adds an unsettling formality to the proceedings.

The proceedings themselves have elements of noir, mystery and thriller. It is, given the size of the cast, in essence, a chamber piece. It is set in a world of entitlement and privilege but manages to show the inadequacies of each of the characters set in an opulent material world where human generosity is in short supply. However, the failings of the protagonists make this unhappy household intriguing. The quality of the acting ensures that your attention is always held.