THE HISTORY BOYS [DVD]

the history boys
The History Boys (2006) is adapted from the original Tony Award winning play by Alan Bennett (he also wrote The Madness of King George). Eight precocious students at an English prep school seek to go to England’s most elite university: Oxford. Two teachers help the boys prepare for the Admission process. One teacher is a shrewd newcomer who sees the application process as a game. The other teacher is an eccentric who tries to inoculate the boys from the falsity of the process with poetry, music, and silliness. Between the two vastly different approaches to Life, the boys learn that history can be both ironic and random. I loved the play and I enjoyed this movie version. The Tony Award winning cast from the play recreate their roles in the movie version. Both the play and movie explore what education and history really are. I picked up this DVD at BIG LOTS for $3. A bargain! GRADE: B+

19 thoughts on “THE HISTORY BOYS [DVD]

  1. Dan`

    Saw this years ago and it struck me then as a winsome lament for the old tradition of educating for the sake of Education, rather than toward some more tangible (and less rewarding) object.

    Reply
  2. Deb

    Ah, BIG LOTS, from curry sauce to Beatles calendars to History Boys on DVD, will you ever stop amazing us with the breadth of your merchandise?

    /Once picked up the entire run of SCTV for $10 there!

    Reply
  3. Jeff Meyerson

    It’s very frustrating. I keep reading of all the finds you and Stan Burns and others pick up in Big Lots but whenever we go to one (in Florida) we don’t find anything worth having.

    I’ve liked what I’ve read (and seen) of Alan Bennett’s stuff. The late Richard Griffths was the Olivier Award and Tony Award for his role in this.

    Reply
    1. george Post author

      Jeff, Richard Griffiths deserved the Olivier Award and Tony Award for his role in THE HISTORY BOYS. Timing is everything at BIG LOTS. You have to be there when the shipments of new DVDs show up.

      Reply
  4. Patti Abbott

    Really enjoyed this at the theater. And Alan Bennett is al jewel. Too bad he is so little known here. We saw a couple of his plays whilst in England in the ninties.

    Reply
    1. george Post author

      Art, great interview! Thanks for the link. There’s also audio commentary with Bennett and the director of THE HISTORY BOYS, Nicholas Hytner, as a Bonus Feature on the DVD.

      Reply

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