Review of Educating Rita

Introduction

Forming part of Carlton’s new Silver Collection range, is the charming 1983 movie Educating Rita. Starring Michael Caine as the alcoholic University English Professor, and Julie Walters in the title role, the story centres on downtrodden Rita’s motivation to fulfil a life long desire to improve her education in the wonders of English Literature, and sit the Open University qualifications.

The film was a highly successful British movie during the 80s, and although we are not told which University the story is set in, the film was actually made at Trinity College in Dublin. As a result there are relatively few studio scenes in the film, and thus the film benefits from mainly location shooting. The historic buildings of the University provide a very atmospheric setting and increases the audience awareness of the anguish Rita feels as she wrestles with her doubts, and the strain this places on her marriage.

Educating Rita won three BAFTA awards. Michael Caine and Julie Walters collected the Best Actor and Actress awards, and the movie itself won Best Film. It is a moving story, and quite sad in parts, and as the film progresses and the characters are fully developed, the sadness in both their lives is portrayed.

Video

This is a budget title, included in the new Carlton Silver Collection, with an RRP of just £9.99. I wasn’t looking forward to a stunning transfer here.

Firstly the film is presented in 4:3 pan and scan rather than the original widescreen. What a shame. The film is now 17 years old and the master print used has suffered from dust, with many specs and blemishes popping up throughout the film. The picture is often rather dark, especially the interior sequences, and colours can look a little washed out in parts.

Audio

The inlay suggests that the film carries a stereo soundtrack, but it sounded like Dolby Digital Mono to me! At no point could I make out any stereo separation. Some of the music sequences seemed overly loud and mildly distorted in parts.

Features

In common with the other Carlton releases of the past year, the menus are animated with snippets from the film playing in the background. Carlton seem to be paying some attention paid to providing the DVD buyer with a nice overall package, even if older films can result in lacklustre picture and sound quality.

As the DVD is less than I tenner I wasn’t surprised to see that there were no extras. When I saw ‘trailer’ on the main menu I thought they had forgotten to print this extra on the inlay, but when I looked at it, it turned out to be a generic Carlton DVD trailer rather than for the movie itself.

Conclusion

This film is an acclaimed award winning drama featuring two very well known and respected actors in the lead roles. Michael Caine and Julie Walters are both superb on screen, and the two BAFTA awards were well deserved.

The script does however seem to focus a lot on the class issues here, and many stereotypical images are included in the screenplay. Although the story centres on Rita’s struggle to achieve her ambitions in education against all the odds, and the costs that she ultimately has to bear, 17 years on from when the film was released can show its weaknesses.

The DVD is budget, but the quality of the visuals and audio is not stunning. Acceptable yes, but these budget ranges have to work harder to avoid them being labelled as poor quality and featureless in the minds of the cost conscious DVD consumer.