Cinema film – “The teacher who promised us the sea”: torch in the storm

The popular Catalan socialist and reform teacher Antoni Benaige in Spain, who was murdered in 1936 victims of the fascist prison in Spain and presumably murdered by Falangist Miliconaries, has taught in the small village in the province of Burgos, in which he taught as a primary school teacher from 1934 to 1936, from 1934 to 1936 still leave traces to this day. Now the director Patricia Font embarks on the traces of Benaige in her new feature film “The teacher who promised us the sea”, who also starts in the German -language cinemas this Thursday, together with her protagonist Ariadna (Laia Costa).

Ariadna wants to learn more about the family of her demented grandfather Carlos, who never spoke about his childhood before and during the Spanish civil war from 1936, especially about his father, i.e. her great -grandfather. She drives into the small village where Carlos grew up and begins to research about him. In doing so, she also comes across the story of Antoni Benaiges, who was not only Carlos’ teacher, but also lived him with him after his father was arrested.

“What happens in the past always affects our present in the form of a cross -generational wound or scar.”

Patricia Font Director

Benaiges (Enric Auquer), who quickly removed the crucifix from the classroom (“This is a school and not a church”) shortly after taking office as a teacher of the elementary school, and lets the children duke and they according to the anti-authoritarian principles of Freinet reform pedagogy taught, it will soon be dealing with the local fees. Neither the priest nor mayor are enthusiastic about the methods of the new teacher, in contrast to his students, whose trust he quickly wins. Finally, he promises the children a school trip to the sea that most of them have never seen before. But before he can redeem his promise, in July 1936, after the right -wing coup in Spain, he was deported by fascist troops.

Font tells the stories of her two protagonists at the different time levels in the 1930s and in 2010, as a late reconstruction of events. “In the interaction of these two stories,” says Font, “there is a message: what happens in the past always affects our presence in the form of a cross -generational wound or scar. I find the thesis interesting that we are able to inherit these trauma of our ancestors. «

“The teacher who promised us the sea” is largely conventional staged narrative cinema, which is not very much about breaks and ambivalences. Benaige is shown as a good character, while, for example, there is no good hair on the sinister village priest – so the figures are often close to the cliché.

Font is also less about innovative or particularly sophisticated storytelling. Rather, what the film wants to illustrate is that progressive social changes are also possible under repressive, reactionary conditions, but are always threatened and risky. In addition, the film is a plea for free educational methods, Benaige Empodalwert its students by taking them seriously and encouraging them to learn and experiment based on their strengths.

This is all entertaining and touching, “the teacher who promised us the sea” is never boring and you can only agree with the message of the film, but the latter is very trivial. And when Benige’s cleaning lady explains his motivation, it remains with educational calendar sayings: »We were not allowed to be children. They wanted to make us men so that we would not be charged with them. Therefore, my job is to prevent this. Because children have to be the way they want, but above all they have to be children. ”Well.

Font’s projects to have the two stories interact also only succeeds in the fact that the past is rolled up from the present. Ariadne only puts together the puzzle parts that result in their research, somehow recognizable gain in knowledge does not draw from Benaige ‘history, nor is it quite clear to what extent the childish experience of freedom and the empowerment of the children forced by the teacher in their further life would have had or they would have taken special teachings from it. So the two narrative strands never really come into contact with each other, the story with the depressive granddaughter has a top -up and is basically superfluous.

Nevertheless, “the teacher who promised us the sea” is a remarkable film, if only because he puts a small monument to a man who was ahead of his time and already represented human -friendly and solidary ideas, taught it and took existential risks for her, When it was still common to beat children at school and in their parents’ house, and the opinion prevailed that “the lazy people only learn through blows”, as a student in the film says.

Beniges and other socialists were murdered by the Spanish fascists at thousands, and this cannot be pointed out often enough. “In the mass graves of La Pedraja,” says “the teacher who promised us the sea”, “remains of 135 corpses were found. None of them was the body of Antonio Benaige, which is still missing. “

“The teacher who promised us the sea”: Spain 2023. Director: Patricia Font. With: Enric Auquer, Laia Costa, Luisa Gavasa, Ramón Agirre. 105 minutes, start: February 6th