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Rita will es endlich wissen (1983) watch online HD

Original title:Educating Rita
Category:Movie / Comedy / Drama
Released:1983
Director:Lewis Gilbert
Actors:Michael Caine,Julie Walters,Michael Williams
Writer:Willy Russell
Duration:1h 50min
Video type:Movie

Rating 7.2: Votes 917

1983 Michael Caine Julie Walters Michael Williams Lewis Gilbert

Short summary

In London, twenty-seven year-old hairdresser Rita decides to complete her basic education before having children as desired by her husband Denny. She joins a literature course in an open university and is tutored by the middle-aged Dr. Frank Bryant, an alcoholic and debauched professor from the upper-class who's life has left him emotionally drained, without self-esteem. Frank lives with Julia, who's also a professor, and have a loveless marriage; Julia has a love affair with the dean Brian. Rivals humour and determination to improve herself is contagious; she gives motivation to Frank who helps prepare her for the exams to join university, and be able to leave Denny Will she succeed in the exams?

The picture has inspired many marriage break-ups according to the film's lead female actress Julie Walters. While receiving the Award for Outstanding Contribution to British Film at the Moet British Independent Film Awards in 2013, Walters said: "I get people who come up to me and say 'I left my husband because of you, because of that film', or 'I got an education'. So many."

Michael Caine's favorite film of his own, and the performance, of which, he's the most proud.

Michael Caine has said that knew he wouldn't win the Academy Award for Best Actor, as soon as he saw that he was seated away from the front row at the ceremony. He was still given a standing ovation afterward anyway.

Michael Caine was extremely impressed with actress Julie Walters' performance because, even though Walters had never acted in a film before, he thought she was a born natural.

When Frank Bryant (Michael Caine) is getting the hidden liquor bottle from his bookshelf, he gets it from behind a book titled Das verlorene Wochenende (1945), a clear reference to the 1945 film of the same name. That movie features major story elements relating to alcoholism as well.

Debut theatrical film of Julie Walters.

Julie Walters has said of this film to UK's Guardian newspaper: "Making the film was utterly different (to the 1980 stage production, in which Walters also starred). I made Rita a bit rougher round the edges and toned my performance down. The director, Lewis Gilbert, wanted me, but I'd never done a feature before, only a bit of telly, and they needed a star. There was talk of doing it with Paul Newman and Dolly Parton. But then Michael Caine came on board as Frank, and I was in. I remember his wife saying: 'You are very lucky it's Michael'. She was thinking of other people of that ilk, who were starry and not that easy. But Michael was lovely, so generous to me."

Michael Caine has stated that he based his performance on Emil Jannings, and his unrequited love for Marlene Dietrich in Der blaue Engel (1930).

In 2007, while promoting 1 Mord für 2 (2007), Caine called Rita will es endlich wissen (1983) the last good picture he was in before he mentally retired.

At the train station, there is an unusual black rectangle above the word "Platform" on the platform sign hanging from the ceiling. Its purpose is to cover up the Irish (Gaelic) word "Árdán", which would have been out of place in an English railway station. A slightly different tactic was employed in another scene showing a double-decker bus. Its destination is listed as Beaumont, a real suburb of Dublin, which has no Irish translation. It was most likely chosen partly as a could-be-anywhere sort of name, but mostly because practically every other destination on a Dublin bus is listed bilingually.

The name of the educational institution is never mentioned and the college, which is stated to be an open university campus, is situated in an unspecified English town. In the stage play, the setting is Liverpool. However, filming took place entirely in Ireland, and the college seen onscreen is Trinity College in Dublin. While care was taken to remove or cover up all Gaelic language signs during filming, the film makes no effort to hide various easily recognizable Dublin landmarks and city views. It can be presumed that Rita is a young Liverpudlian working-class ladies' hairdresser, but viewers not familiar with the original stage play, are presented with an unspecified university town.

According to an article published in 2015 by the Liverpool Echo, "the (source) Willy Russell play has remained in production somewhere in the world every year since it received its premiere at the RSC (Royal Shakespeare Company) in London (in 1980)".

When Dr. Frank Bryant (Michael Caine) is drunk in the lecture hall, he says, "Not many people know that". This was an in-joke for a catch-phrase, initiated by Peter Sellers, when he appeared on BBC's Parkinson show on October 28, 1972, where he did a Michael Caine impression, in which he claimed that Caine had a habit of always quoting from the Guinness Book of Records, and saying things like, "Did you know that it takes a man in a tweed suit five and a half seconds to fall from the top of Big Ben to the ground? Now there's not many people know that!". This quickly became a catchphrase often repeated by many other impersonators when imitating Caine. "Not many people know that" is also the title of a best-selling collection of trivia anecdotes which Caine compiled in 1984 for a book for the charity the National Playing Fields Association.

When American actor Robert Duvall got Oscar nominated for Best Actor for Comeback der Liebe (1983), and ultimately winning the Academy Award for the category, Duvall competed in a field where the entire competition were comprised of British actors, who were: Michael Caine for Rita will es endlich wissen (1983), Tom Conti, Albert Finney, and Tom Courtenay.

Michael Caine gained thirty pounds to play the role of Dr. Frank Bryant.

Julie Walters sports seven different hairstyles throughout the picture.

The source stage play, by Willy Russell, of the same name, on which this film is based, only featured two characters, Frank and Rita, and hence is what is known in the theater world as a "two-hander". The stage production is set entirely in Frank's academia office. The other characters in the film are only mentioned in the theater play.

The later movie Shirley Valentine - Auf Wiedersehen, mein lieber Mann (1989) was made by the same team that brought Rita will es endlich wissen (1983) to the screen.

The movie was nominated for three Academy Awards, including Best Actor (Michael Caine), Best Actress (Julie Walters), and Best Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium (Willy Russell), but the picture failed to win a gong in any of this trio of Oscar categories.

Frank, surprised at Rita's new personality when he picks her up at the train station, says: "My God, what is this vision I see before me?" That's a clear reference to the line "Is this a dagger which I see before me?" from Macbeth which is Rita's favorite play.

The picture was a huge hit at the Irish box-office. It played for over a year at one theater.

In 2002, director Lewis Gilbert thought about remaking the film with Halle Berry with Denzel Washington, who both had won Best Acting Oscars that year, for Monster's Ball (2001) and Training Day (2001) respectively. However, the project never got off the ground. England's newspaper "The Guardian" reported that Gilbert referred to both of these Oscar winners when he spoke of this proposed production: "There are so many good black actors in America. You only have to think of the two black actors who took the Best Actor awards at this year's Oscars".

The movie's closing credits declare that the picture was: "Filmed entirely on location in the Republic of Ireland".

Maureen Lipman replaced a big name British actress, who dropped out.

Julie Walters reprised her role of Rita in this film version, as she had played Rita in the original Royal Shakespeare Company's West End stage production in 1980.

When the film was in the hands of American producers, they originally wanted Dolly Parton and Paul Newman to take the lead roles. However, it would have required the film to have been relocated to the United States. Writer Willy Russell stated "A more cynical and a more commercially-minded human being than myself might have said, 'What a great idea. Go down that route.'" Russell wanted Julie Walters for the role.

Breakthrough film role of Julie Walters.

The picture was voted as one of "Top 100 British Films" by the British Film Institute (BFI)'s survey of 1000 film industry personnel in 1999 getting ranked at the No. #84 spot.

In the two movies that Michael Caine starred in, in 1983, Rita will es endlich wissen (1983) and Der Honorarkonsul (1983), Caine portrayed an alcoholic, or heavy drinker.

The film was made and released three years after its source stage play, of the same name, by Willy Russell, had been first performed in 1980. Russell also penned the screenplay for this movie.

The only film that year to be nominated for Best Actor and Best Actress Oscars.

The National Board of Review for Motion Pictures placed Rita will es endlich wissen (1983) second in its Top 10 Films List for 1983.

When the original theatrical production premiered at London's Donmar Warehouse in 1980, Julie Walters played opposite Mark Kingston with direction by Mike Ockrent. The play went on to become one of the RSC's (Royal Shakespeare Company's) biggest successes.

Rita's (Julie Walters's) full real name was actually Susan White, with "Rita" being technically her nickname.

Author and academic Geoffrey Sampson, Professor of Natural Language Computing in the Department of Informatics at the University of Sussex, has stated that the title of his book "Educating Eve: The 'Language Instinct' Debate" (1997) is a deliberate allusion to "Educating Rita", and utilizes the story-line of Willy Russell's "Educating Rita" source stage play to argue his thesis.

First of two major British movies of the 1980s, both comedy-dramas, that featured the name "Rita" in the title. Rita will es endlich wissen (1983) was the first, and Rita, Sue und Bob dazu... (1987) was the second. Ironically, Susan (a name which can be abbreviated as Sue), is Rita's real first name in Rita will es endlich wissen (1983).

The wording on the engraved pen that was a gift from Rita (Julie Walters) to Frank (Michael Caine) read: "Must only be used for poetry by strictest order - RITA".

Willy Russell adapted the script from his own novel and stage play.

Rita will es endlich wissen (1983) was the first of two collaborations of Lewis Gilbert and Willy Russell, who would later collaborate on Shirley Valentine - Auf Wiedersehen, mein lieber Mann (1989).

The photographic still, used for many of the movie posters for the film, featuring Rita sitting in front of Frank, who is holding open wide a book with lots of text, is a shot that doesn't appear in the movie itself.

Irish newspapers reported that Julie Christie would play the title role of Rita, which in the end was cast with Julie Walters.

The original Off-Broadway production of "Educating Rita" opened upstairs at the Westside Theatre on May 7, 1987, and ran for ninety-four performances until it closed on July 26, 1987. This was four years after this movie had first launched, and seven years after the source stage play had premiered in London's West End. In this two-hander staged Off-Broadway, Laurie Metcalf played Rita, while Austin Pendleton portrayed Frank.

Marcus O'Higgins portrayed a character who had the same first name as his own.

Two of the five nominees nominated at the 1983 Academy Awards for Best Actor, Tom Conti and Michael Caine, both were for performances for alcoholic writer characters, for the films Poeten küßt man nicht (1983) and Rita will es endlich wissen (1983) respectively. Moreover, that year's winner, Robert Duvall for Comeback der Liebe (1983), portrayed a hard-drinking country and western singer.

Michael Caine sports a beard in this picture, portraying Professor Frank Bryant, just as thespian Mark Kingston had done, while playing the part in the original West End Royal Shakespeare Company production in 1980.

For those that know the source story is assumed to be set in Liverpool, but also know Dublin well, it can be very jarring to recognise distinct elements such as landmarks, streets, and other visuals well-known to "locals", but relatively obscure to those outside of Ireland. Indeed, with changes around Dublin city centre in the following 30+ years, it has become an unintentional record of how Dublin used to look.

User reviews

Author: Fesho

What a novel concept - a college movie that isn't about frat parties! Since "Educating Rita" is one of the only movies which explores the true value of schooling, it remains close to this nerd's heart. In fact, in a rather weird conjunction with "Rocky," it inspired me to leave my lousy office job and get a graduate degree - to better meself, as Rita might say.

What are the criticisms here - too long, too stagey, silly synth music? This is not my idea of a slow movie. I like the characters enough to stick with them, even if they aren't...well...moving around much! Surely their personal conflicts are interesting enough to keep me watching, even in the absence of car chases and explosions.

Walters and Caine are likable, the message is empowering (but realistic - Rita really suffers when she tries to change her life), and, just for a change, alcoholism is treated as a serious problem. Is it too sentimental? Well, I always cry. Or at least sniffle. I think that means the movie is moving, rather than sentimental.

Enough defensiveness - this movie is lovely! Where's the American DVD release, then?

Author: Muniath

Rita White, a young Liverpool hairdresser, enrols on an Open University course to study literature. (This is a scheme in Britain whereby adults can study for a degree at home). In Willie Russell's original stage play, there were only two characters, Rita and her tutor Frank Bryant. The screenplay (also written by Russell) opens up the action to bring in other characters, but Rita and Frank are still very much at the centre.

They are very different. She is intelligent with a sharp wit, but with little formal schooling, whereas he is a highly qualified middle-class academic. She has not enrolled in higher education in her mid-twenties to earn more money or to get a better job, but rather because she believes in education for its own sake. She wants to study literature as a means of self-realisation and as a way of getting a wider perspective on the world. As she puts it, she "wants to sing a better song". In doing so, however, she comes into conflict with her working-class family, who have no sympathy with her intellectual aspirations, and her cheerfully Philistine husband Denny, whose only desire is to start raising a family.

The irony of the film is that Frank possesses what Rita most earnestly desires- learning and culture- but does not appreciate it. In his youth, when he was a published poet, he doubtless shared her ideals, but now in middle age he is a bored, cynical alcoholic. He gave up writing poetry after the breakdown of his marriage and his relationship with his girlfriend Julia is also collapsing. (She is having an affair with one of his colleagues). He turns up drunk to lectures and mocks his students and the university authorities. Although he still earns a living from teaching literature, he has lost his enthusiasm for the subject.

Despite their differences, Rita and Frank become friends, probably because he retains just enough idealism to be touched by her naive enthusiasm. This comes across in the scene where she rushes to tell him of her excitement at seeing a production of "Macbeth" or the one where he introduces her to Blake. Initially Rita has more enthusiasm for the subject than understanding, but she makes good progress, and is eventually able to discuss literature on equal terms with Frank's college students. She becomes a waitress, which gives her more time to study. Her appearance changes; originally a bleached blonde in mini-skirt and high heels she returns to her natural brunette looks and dresses more conservatively. She reverts to her real name, Susan, abandoning "Rita" which she adopted in honour of the writer Rita Mae Brown.

Frank, however, is not happy with the change in her personality. He has become disillusioned with the idea that culture is desirable, and dislikes the way in which the naive but spontaneous and amusing Rita has given way to the more analytical, intellectually aware Susan, whom he sees as pretentious. (He insists on calling her "Rita" even after she has ceased using the name). He accuses himself of being a Frankenstein who has created a monster, and her of singing not a better song, merely a different one which on her lips sounds shrill, hollow and tuneless. This, of course, causes difficulties between them. Susan's success has been achieved at considerable personal cost because her marriage to Denny has collapsed- he burnt her course-books in a fit of rage after discovering that she was taking the Pill in order to delay having children- and she has become estranged from her family, who sided with Denny over the divorce.

If this had been a Hollywood production, it would doubtless have been made as a traditional rom-com, with a happy ending as Frank and Susan fall in love. What we actually have is a film of ideas, with a much more ambiguous ending. The central question is "What is the value of culture and education?" Should one value these things, or question their value as Frank does? Although some reviewers have sympathised with Frank, my sympathies are with Susan; his belittling of her aspirations seems patronising, and there is some justice in her accusations that he liked her better in the early days of their relationship because he was amused by her ignorance and naivety. His apparent disillusionment with his own achievements may reflect not humility but rather a deeper arrogance- the arrogance of the man who mistakes his own cynical nihilism for a higher wisdom.

If that analysis of the film makes it seem very serious, it is not- it is often very funny with some wonderful lines delivered in two great performances by Julie Waters and Michael Caine. (There is also a brilliant, and very memorable, synthesiser score from David Hentschel).

I did not like the sub-plot involving Susan's flatmate Trish, a suicidally depressed culture-vulture, played by Maureen Lipman as an exaggerated caricature. ("Wouldn't you just die without Maaahler?") I also felt an opportunity was lost by filming in Dublin rather than Liverpool. Doubtless the Irish authorities offered a better financial deal, but it meant that the film lacks the authentic sense of place which marks so many of the best British films.

Those reservations apart, however, I loved the film. Its combination of wit, great dialogue, warmth and intellectual depth made it, in my view, easily the best film of 1983. Unfortunately, its chances of winning an Oscar were sabotaged by the fact that the British film industry was going through a brief but brilliant revival in the early eighties and British films- "Chariots of Fire" and "Gandhi"- had achieved the unprecedented feat of winning "Best Picture" in two successive years. A British hat-trick would have been a hurt to American national pride too serious to bear, so "Best Picture" went instead to that horrible tear-jerker "Terms of Endearment". 9/10

Author: Thundershaper

What delights me most about this movie is that in early 2006 it finally came out on DVD. There is a minor glitch in the establishing scene at the beginning, but to see Rita once again in widescreen is almost like seeing it for the very first time.

Educating Rita is one of many re-tellings of Shaw's Pygmalion, itself based on a Greek myth, so the story is nothing new. Rita, as so many great British films, is based on a play, in this case by Willie Russell, who also collaborated with director Lewis Gilbert, who, in addition to directing several Bond features, also directed Michael Caine in his Oscar nominated title role in Alfie, on the delightful Shirley Valentine, cast in a similar vein. It would be easy to think of Rita as My Fair Lady without the Marne Nixon voice overs, but that would be, as a classmate of Rita's puts it, facile.

The combination of Michale Caine and Julie Walters is pure magic. Unlike Dudley Moore's lovable drunk, Caine's Frank Bryant is a drunk that is difficult to love, which makes him far more interesting. He wallows, not in self pity, which would be disgusting, but in the infinitely sadder depths of self acceptance and resignation to shortcomings. He is a failed drunken poet who has lost the capacity to feel his own life.

Enter Rita, a hairdresser who wants to learn literary criticism, but more importantly, learn a way out of a life that she feels all too well. From his jaundiced perspective, Frank fears that educating Rita would transform her into just another one of the lifeless women that litter his life, but Rita will not be denied. Gradually, through voracious consumption of the Canon of Western Literature, Rita learns what she believes to be a better song to sing.

But it's not that simple. Rita finds that people, even educated people, in the end, have only themselves to cling to, and Shaw, Blake, Ibsen and Chekov may help fill up the empty moments, but they can't take away the emptiness itself. What does Rita want? Frank? A baby? Her ex-husband? No. What Rita wants is choices, and the freedom to choose among them for herself, and getting there is warm and moving drama that elevates Educating Rita among the absolute best of its era and genre.

David Hentschel's synthesized soundtrack is absolutely wonderful. It is by now so obviously from another era that it allows you to be drawn even more into the film, giving it a more timeless than dated feel. The supporting cast is wonderful, including Michael Williams, who, aside from being Mr. Judi Densch for the last thirty years of his life, also received a Papal knighthood, and classically renowned actress Maureen Lipman who was later awarded a C.B.E. for her work in British theatre.

Ultimately, however, it is the sheer magic of Caine and Walters, no less so than with Harrison and Hepburn in My Fair Lady, that gives Rita the boundless charm, wit, and passion that have made it one of my favorite films of all time.

Author: Yozshugore

People who have experienced the mid-life crisis will be at home with this movie, as 26 year old hairdresser, Rita (Julie Walters), is pressurised into settling down with boyfriend Denny. Not only is this an un-needed pressure, but her father is plaguing her about when she is going to have children, but all Rita wants to do is find herself and take up something new. Her common touch and wonderful idiosyncrasies bring a breath of fresh air to snotty high class life, but when she goes to Dr. Frank Bryant (Michael Caine) to not only improve her lexicon, but to improve her image she begins a journey of blood and tears. Frank is assigned to tutor her, and from the start their personalities resonate the human touch.

Dr. Frank Bryant's marriage has gone down the pan, and his current girlfriend is playing away. On top of this he has hit the bottle and can only get through the day of teaching the young toffs, with a blend of his lecturing skills and the drink. He is jaded, he is tired of the same lecture routines, and he cannot understand why these students want to discuss the finer points of Blake. But Rita is new and fresh, initially Rita doesn't possess the skills required to write analytical essays; but she is different, she is vibrant, she is funny and she is unbelievably up front. As their relationship blossoms and Rita starts to find herself, she becomes increasingly drawn to the student way of life, and when Franks life is enriched because of her presence and her willingness to learn he sends her to a summer camp, to be educated at a greater level.

However, Rita's return with a change of character surprises Frank, and soon they drift away from their zany, affectionate meetings. Educating Rita is funny, expressive, sentimental, poignant and sad, as Frank must come to terms with the young bird fleeing the nest, whilst Rita begins to realize what she is becoming. With one thing gained, many other things are lost, and with Frank's increasing drinking problem because of Rita's character change, the two are headed for disaster. Both Caine and Walters give amazingly touching performances, and throughout I felt myself urging them to each other, only to know deep down that the age gap is just too much. Not many films make the audience care enough about relationships and circumstances, but this brilliant movie not only gets the audience committed to their plight, but also feels the full range of emotions.

When Rita gives her own interpretation of what assonance is, Bryant finds himself chuckling away to himself and realising that she is indeed right. What is especially touching is the way that Bryant wants Rita to stay as she is, because life has so little characters left for him. What she wants to become is everything that Bryant wants to forget, and there begins a sentimental tug of war. In between the funny moments, and plot directions is the feeling that life has more to offer than just being able to talk fluently about past authors, something which Bryant is driven to distraction over. But the movie nevertheless doesn't miss a moment to entertain and take the characters to our hearts, ensuring that Educating Rita remains a film classic.

Author: Granijurus

This wonderfully engaging and thought provoking movie far surpassed my expectations. It's an unusual variation on the old teacher / student story but with a mature twist that asks the viewer the question... Just which one of this pair is doing the teaching here, and exactly what is the subject?

Dr. Frank Bryant is an older, jaded, alcoholic college English professor. He's weary of the snobbish academic world, which he mocks with contempt, and weary of dissecting meaning out of literature for the pretentious but unenthusiastic students in his classes. He's assigned to tutor Rita, a feisty, uneducated Liverpool hairdresser / housewife in her mid 20's, who has enrolled in a college class to improve her language skills and also really to develop her mind. Frank finds Rita literally a breath of fresh air, chuckling at her amusing definition of the word 'assonance' and uncharacteristically moved by her candor, her respect for education, her bubbling eagerness to learn and develop. Frank actually prefers that she remain exactly as she is, fearing she'll come to resemble the pompous snobs to which he's grown all too accustomed, walking the halls of academia all around him.

Both teacher and student here already have 'significant others'. Frank is romantically involved with another teacher, Julia, who is carrying on an affair literally under his nose, so his personal life is in equivalent shambles to his professional situation. Rita is married to the uneducated, working class Denny, who's eager to start a family. She is secretly taking birth control pills, wanting to explore her own and life's possibilities before having children. Obviously conflict emerges here between this couple, with Denny actually quite a sympathetic character. He's not the villain of the piece at all (from my viewpoint), even though he does burn Rita's books, certainly not something to applaud. He just wants the simple things of life, obviously disapproving of his wife's educational endeavors for fear she'll grow away from him.

Michael Caine, in the role he was born to play, is completely convincing as the drunken, disillusioned Frank, who cannot get through his day without a drink. Julie Walters is equally perfect as Rita...first the earlier blonde, uneducated but academically keen housewife / hairdresser, and later the sophisticated woman into which she's transformed.

The dialogue is witty, and the rich relationship that develops between Frank and Rita compelling. No sex scenes here, just discussions of literature and mainly of life. These are two memorable characters that will truly engage your concern. After some additional courses abroad, Rita undergoes an amazing Pygmalion style metamorphosis in admittedly, as some have criticized, a rather unbelievably short time. She is transformed from the original naive, uneducated, working class housewife to a sophisticated literary critic...though her core, in my opinion, remains fundamentally unchanged.

As for the ending, I won't give it away. Will a May December romance emerge from all this tutelage as with that other Pygmalion pair, Henry Higgins and Eliza Doolittle, of My Fair Lady fame? Or will these two ultimately go their separate ways, each altered forever by the other's influence? Personally, the moving, emotional ending left me feeling satisfied that the screenwriters had done their job right. Don't miss this sparkling and intelligent movie which casts attitudes toward education in such a compelling light.

Author: Vareyma

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!

Author: Mora

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.

Author: Seevinev

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.

Author: FRAY

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.

Author: Lo◘Ve

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")

Author: Fearlessrunner

Educating Rita is directed by Lewis Gilbert, is based on the play by Willy Russell and stars Michael Caine, Julie Walters, Michael Williams and Maureen Lipman.

Rita(Julie Walters)is a young hairdresser who at the age of 26 is being pressured by her husband Denny and her family to have a baby.Rita however has other plans, she wants to find herself first and get educated.She signs up to an open university course at her local university, her tutor is the heavy drinking Dr Frank Bryant(Michael Caine).

Bryant takes her on as his student and grudgingly begins to help her on her quest to change into an educated woman.The real heart and soul of Educating Rita is the relationship between Frank and Rita, beginning as part teacher and friend and turning into love for Frank, whereas Rita just considers him her mentor and the one person in her life who she can really talk to and get to understand her.

It would be fair to consider this the My Fair Lady of the eighties. Towards the end as in My Fair Lady Frank can see his Rita slipping away from him and changing so much he can not seem to reach her anymore. When the things she is learning transform her into a stranger to him.At times painful and at other times very funny this is a wonderful film and Michael and Julie both give superb performances.

Author: Hanelynai

This film definitely isn't an example of great directing, cinematography or editing. The music is kind of cheap sounding and the overall feel isn't far off television. What makes this film great are the script, Julie Walters and Michael Caine. It's proof that if you get the right actors and the right words for them to speak all you have to do and stand back and let them get on with it.

What also makes this film a great film is that it portrays very convincingly a character transformation. For me there is something particularly fascinating about showing a character in a film going through enormous personal change. However in Educating Rita the transformation has a bitter sting and it's only at the end that we find out exactly what the transformation of Rita the hairdresser to Susan the educated confident young woman really means. Rita had told her tutor played by Michael Caine that she wants to "sing a better tune" and that's why she wants to be educated. However at the end she is forced to question the value of all that she has learned when Michael Caine tells her that she hasn't learned a better tune, only a different one and on her lips it sounds "shrill and tuneless".

I think the real message of this film is that ultimately education isn't just about books and knowledge it's about self discovery. At the end of the film, Susan, through education has become an independent woman with real choices in her life. However her real achievement is that she has found out who she is and is comfortable with that. She isn't embarrassed by her past and she isn't mesmerised and infatuated by the middle class world of academia. A great ending to a fantastic film.

Author: Jugore

'Educating Rita' is one of those films that, unfortunately, most people will never see. A lack of recognition in Britain is most likely to blame, along with the audacity to step outside the typical idea of British-films-made-for-the-US. If you do get the chance to see this film, I can wholeheartedly recommend it.

It's a film that will certainly pull at your heartstrings, but never actually gets soppy or acknowledges what the audience feels. The two leads, (played brilliantly by Michael Caine and Julie Walters) are both trapped within two very different worlds. Walters - as hairdresser/student Susan/Rita - is suffering a life of bland working-class domesticity in 1980s Liverpool, unwilling to have a child until she better understands herself. Caine - as university professor Frank - is disillusioned with the academic life, surrounded by pretentious students and constantly dependent on alcohol to see him through the day. This could so easily have been turned into a cheesy love-fest, in which both characters fall head over heels for each other and face their troubles neatly and quickly in order to dash off into a new life together. Thankfully, Willy Russell is made of stronger stuff and delivers a story that is witty, clever and poignant without ever going cold.

Author: Faugami

Willy Russell does a reasonably good job of transforming his witty play into a film script here, however the new supporting characters that he includes add nothing to the material, and the film really could have done without most of the scenes that involve them. Aside from that, a continuity error or two, and inappropriate choices of music choices, everything else is here is quite good. Caine and Walters are both superb, not overplaying their characters at all, which easily could have been done. Some of the best witty lines are preserved from the play, as are the ideas about switching teacher-student relationships. It is not a perfect film, and the material suits a two-character play much better, however this is still a great on-screen vision the play.

Author: Andromakus

I remember when I first saw this film many years ago on television. I always feel like I'm returning home to those memories after twenty years. I love Julie Walters as Rita/Susan in the film, a hairdresser who aspires to become an intellectual. At first, she is not your typical college student. She is older, married, and not ready to have children with her husband. She seeks better. I remember how she nearly gave up when he invites her to dinner because she thought that she brought an inappropriate bottle of wine or champagne to her teacher's house. Anyway, her performance sparkles with sheer delight and Rita/Susan becomes an endearing character who has not forgotten her roots or her future. Anyway, she leaves the party without even going in afraid of being laughed at by the snobbery bunch of college intellectuals. Anyway, she goes to the bar where her family is and they're singing this ridiculous song "I'm so happy that you're so happy" and she witnesses her own mother crying and saying that they're must be a better song to sing and she decides to come back to class not that she is not met with pleasure by her own husband. He seems content with a home, wife, and child rather than his wife going out and becoming smarter and alive. Julie does a fantastic job at bringing her to life that you just can't imagine another person in this role. Anyway, Sir Michael Caine plays the drunken lost college professor who learns from his student, Rita/Susan as well. Michael Williams also has a role but you might know him better as being the husband to Dame Judi Dench. Anyway, the relationship between student and teacher despite a small age difference could have gone further and I wished it had but the movie does have a satisfying ending which is why I am giving it a 9 and not a ten. Anyway, the chemistry is there. Watching pros like Walters and Caine engage in conversation is worth watching again and again. Rita/Susan becomes who she wanted to be and that is an independent woman.

Author: Angana

The highlight of this movie is without doubt the performances of Michael Caine and Julie Walters. They were superb together, each latching on to their roles perfectly, and with a marvellous on screen chemistry together. Those strong performances were essential to make this movie work, because of the subject matter. Essentially a retelling of Shaw's "Pygmalion" set in the contemporary world of a university campus, the story isn't at all original (although it has a few twists) but Caine and Walters make it worth watching.

Caine is Dr. Frank Bryant, an English Professor who obviously struggles with demons of his own, in a relationship that isn't working well and spending a good deal of his time drunk, even when he's teaching. Into his life comes Rita (Walters), whose real name is Susan. She's an Open University student who wants to overcome her working class roots and become educated and cultured. She has to overcome opposition from her own husband and family, who are upset with her because she's been married six years and hasn't had a baby yet - which they seem to feel is her only purpose in life. Bryant and Rita develop a bond and help each other overcome their personal challenges and find transformation. Rita leaves her husband behind and becomes a full time student (and something of an expert on Chekov), while Bryant - after an embarrassing scene in which he's falling down drunk in front of his class - is packed off to Australia, which represents for him a new beginning.

I appreciated the decision not to turn this into a sappy romance between Bryant and Rita. That seemed to be the way the ending was headed and it would have been the wrong way to go. Instead, Rita simply meets Bryant at the airport as he's flying off and thanks him for everything he's done and - whatever his personal problems - for being such a wonderful teacher to her. It's a very moving closing scene, made even more emotional by the very fact that there's no romance involved. Then, they simply go their separate ways into new lives. The line that stands out for me from the movie is spoken by Rita's mother. As the family gathers in a pub and sings along with the music she looks decidedly unhappy. Rita asks her what's wrong, and her memorable reply, with pained look on her face, is "There must be a better song." In other words, she - alone among the family - understands Rita's need to get away from all this. The movie is well done; one of countless adaptations of "Pygmalion" and so it won't carry a lot of mystery for anyone, but still well done. 7/10

Author: Saberblade

I can watch this film many times without being tired, for many reasons.

First, "Educating Rita" is led by two outstanding actors. Their lines are memorable -it is almost impossible to choose only one as an example. By the way, one of the most captivating is when Julie Walters says to Michael Caine "You look like a geriatric hippy!".

Second, the film is like a love letter to literature and poetry. Without being pedantic and always with jokes, director Lewis Gilbert and author Willy Russell talk to us about Blake, Shakespeare, Ibsen, Wilde, Shaw and others. In the film the relationship between the professor and the student can also reminds us of "A Star is born" and "My fair lady"...

Third, the film is shot entirely in Dublin. A city I love and where I lived for some time -I recognize many of the locations!

Lewis Gilbert -an expert and an eclectic director- worked with Michael Caine for the first time in 1966 in "Alfie", a sarcastic comedy about a London playboy. After having directed -among the following features- three spectacular Bond epics ("You only live twice", "The Spy who loved me" and "Moonraker"), Gilbert and Sir Michael team again in 1983 with this movie. They find again the taste for a sweet and sour comedy, about encounters between "working class heroes" and upper class people.

Michael Caine is one of my favourite actors. What can I say? The more mature he becomes, the more passionating his performances are...

Author: Wrathshaper

I'm always upset when I start watching a film that seems like it has the potential to be something really special and moving and by the time it's done it leaves me angry. Angry because I hate to see the good in a movie go to waste by the bad. Educating Rita is one of the best examples of this that I can think of in recent memory.

I think Educating Rita has very good intentions - it's trying to make us believe that people can change for the better if they really put their minds to it. It's a nice thought, but one that is pounded needlessly into our head for nearly two hours. I like a good triumphant story as much as the next person but it seems like the scenes never cover any different ground than the first two scenes. Much of the dialogue seems like filler - instead of letting us experience these characters each scene feels like it has an agenda to further the story to that final moment that we've been waiting for. This makes Educating Rita sometimes poignant, but often hollow. By the time the film ends, we haven't experienced much.

But credit is due where credit is due and that honor goes solely to the performances of Michael Caine and Julie Walters. Their chemistry (when the script isn't feeding them useless dialogue) is wonderful. Sadly though, this isn't enough to evoke much emotion. We only get to be with these characters for one or two scenes are different points in her education and there are so many time lapses that it rushes right by. Which is to say, that I think Educating Rita moves by much too fast! This is a film where I would have loved to spend more time with these characters. Given a better script, I would have been able to sit through another hour with these two people.

There is a marvelous scene where Julie Walters runs to Caine's class just because she wanted to tell him that she saw and loved a Shakespeare play and Caine is touched that she told him first. It's one of the few scenes that evoke any emotion and it's a moment so great that the rest of the film doesn't even come close. If only Educating Rita had more honest moments and less filler.

** out of ****

Author: Anayalore

This film is primarily character-oriented, although the script is quite good. As such, the leads must perform well or the film will die. They pull it off admirably. While Michael Caine is marvelous in his role, the part is one he could do in his sleep. Rita is the linch-pin role and Julie Waters carries the film, playing the role exceedingly well. Without a dynamic performance from her, you migh as well turn this into bookmarks. Recommended.

Author: Onoxyleili

Rita is a twenty six year old hairdresser, who's only had a basic education, after a long time deliberating she joins an open University course with Doctor Frank Bryant, she wants to change her life, and instantly changes his life.

There aren't enough superlatives I can throw at these two, my favourite performance to this day from Michael Caine, he's funny, tragic, captivating and totally engaging. He bounces so well off a young Julie Walters, for my money one of the best British actresses of all time, her performance is sensational, you truly see Rita develop throughout the film. A shame Lipman didn't get more screen time, the few minutes she's on, she's brilliant.

I've never forgotten that phrase 'assonance means getting the rhyme wrong.'

It has some incredibly funny moments, Brian's phone calls to his agents, Rita's early outbursts. It has some truly sad moments, where Denny burns her books, and it boasts a moment of devastation, poor Maureen Lipman's character Trish.

It's a fabulous film, I know many see it as an Eighty's Pygmalion story, but it's so much more then that, it's a social character study, which is acted to perfection. A great film. 9/10

Author: Truthcliff

This play is perhaps the most warming and enthralling I have read in a long time: with the film meeting the standards set by Russel in the play.

The chemistry between Caine and Walters is indeed magnificent to watch, capturing all of the greatest aspects of the play in a profound and thoughtful manner. Following Rita through her journey from a uneducated, naive and insecure character to a developed, matured and refined woman. Throughout her journey we are given an insight into both what she gains and loses, watching her marriage deteriorate and her maturing into a well rounded student.

To put it simply: it is brilliant!

Author: Varshav

Unremarkable settings (a University somewhere in England), a professor of literature (how boring), an uneducated English housewife (dull), and yet one enchanting movie.

Julie Walters walks on campus and walks away with a truly delightful performance rarely seen before. Transforming from dizzy hairdresser to an educated woman she proves that we are what we are and thank God she remained who she was. The only disappointing moment in the movie was when she walked on in that long corridor of the airport. She should have joined Frank. And when the music came on, I had tears in my eyes. There, I admit it!

Author: Vathennece

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

Author: Rindyt

Rita White (Julie Walters) is a spunky, 26-year old working class woman who wants to improve her lot. She enrolls in a special Open University class and meets with her tutor, Frank (Michael Caine) once a week to study great literature. Frank, who spends his days in an alcoholic haze, is at first intrigued and later enthralled with the outspoken Rita.

This is a wonderful showcase for the talented and adorable Julie Walters. She is dazzling and thoroughly likable and every word spoken in her thick Liverpool accent rings honest and true. Caine lets her shine by downplaying Frank, who is hopelessly morose and more than a bit lazy. Both were rightly nominated for best acting Oscars.

The inevitable transformation/ improvement of both characters is sweet and uplifting without being overly-sentimental. Walters, best known these days as the matronly Mrs. Weasley in "Harry Potter," is so young and pretty and lights up the screen with her charisma. Recommended.

Cast overview, first billed only:
	Michael Caine	-	Dr. Frank Bryant
	Julie Walters	-	Rita
	Michael Williams	-	Brian
	Maureen Lipman	-	Trish
	Jeananne Crowley	-	Julia
	Malcolm Douglas	-	Denny
	Godfrey Quigley	-	Rita's Father
	Dearbhla Molloy	-	Elaine
	Patrick Daly	-	Bursar (as Pat Daly)
	Kim Fortune	-	Collins
	Philip Hurd-Wood	-	Tiger (as Philip Hurdwood)
	Hilary Reynolds	-	Lesley
	Jack Walsh	-	Price
	Christopher Casson	-	Professor
	Rosamund Burton	-	Denise

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