filmalamosa This is an excellent film. Gay themed films can be either too rosy or too depressing...this one is acceptably in the middle.A school teacher breaks up with a lover and goes to lose himself in a small town (he had been a talented teacher in Prague).The two main actors make this movie = the main character and the widow.... the widow has a presence you don't forget.There is a good sequence where the teachers ex lover shows up and almost blows up his whole cover... that is a priceless part of the film.The scene where the teacher is drunk and comes on to a 17 year old pupil (also drunk) and the explosive reactions of the kid is the kind of negative stereotype scene that make these movies unpleasant to watch.Still I would like to see even more positive gay movies done by a director and actors as talented as this one had. Hard to find!

Toadinthehole Excellent film. I would watch it again.The secret world and the way it seeps through into the real world.If like me you are happy watching beautiful skies and haystacks then beware of a scandalous old flame who may enter stage left and starts to set fire to the whole plot, not just the haystack. Spoiler alert! Maybe. But then you may be relieved the plot never goes where you think it will.This is a very clever film posing as dumb in many ways.I'm a sucker for pastoral flicks. Those leaves rustling in the trees and sunny haystacks make me want to move right there, but will I still want to live in the village by the time the film ends? A cute geeky schoolmaster from the big city lies on top of a haystack with poetic yearnings and I thought of Mr Housman dreaming of his Shropshire Lad and wondered will the lad get up there with him?Watch it and see...and have a cushion to hide behind.....if you don't like it rough...

pyotr-3 How often do you get to see two actual cow births in a film? The scenes of farm life in the Czech Republic are a wonderful opportunity to visit another world and escape our own mundane concerns. The entire film is gorgeous to watch and provides terrific escapism in so many ways.A young man leaves Prague to go teach in the country. The audience wonders why he has made this move. As he settles in to his new living quarters, which is a small bit of a room in an old woman's house, with only a sheet hung up for privacy, we wonder how long anyone could possibly live like this. Then we meet the varied characters of the village, and we are impressed by the respect and kindness the country teacher has for the villagers. He seems to sincerely care for them.Then an old lover of his comes to visit. He proves to be a highly disruptive force, and things begin to go wrong in the country teacher's life. Will the troubles unleashed by the unwanted ex-lover's visit cause all of the country teacher's good work to unravel? Will the country teacher have the self-control to keep himself out of trouble? Does he really care for the villagers? Will this story have a sad or happy ending? I won't tell you. But few people would predict the ending of this film correctly, which makes it all the more interesting.The actors in this film are sublime. Especially the 3 main characters. "The Country Teacher" will stay in your thoughts long after you leave the theatre.

msfnyc I thought that overall the movie was very well done. I was disturbed a bit by the mother's quick forgiveness. Would that be a normal reaction? No matter how much she had developed a friendship he stepped over a very big line. I am not in agreement with Albrecht's feeling that society now thinks it is acceptable to have a gay character do this and not a straight one. I am gay and was disturbed by her forgiveness with no qualifications. I think the writer thought there would be no story after this so this was a bit forced. To ask your son to forgive someone for touching him inappropriately was a bit strange.I also think the gay character was portrayed pretty well, except for the above. I do not expect all gay characters to be positive, but isn't it cliché that he would be a predator? And his bisexual friend was a dangerous character. The only "normal" ones were heterosexual.