i have just seen the history boys at the cinema and hope to try and catch the stage version at some point, I thought that the sadness of the film was overwhelming, particularly towards the end (obviously), though the sharp humour exercised throughout allowed the plot to work more freely and in a very realistic manner. The teacher-pupil relationships I found very carefully portrayed and also very sympathetic to the plights of not only the pupils but also their teachers and the background of what is expected of them, with only the reliance on the skills of their pupils to highlight their own intellectual prowess. In conclusion of this I would give the film a sterling 9/10 with only one mark deducted for the lack of focus on some of the other interesting boys -I felt that this film was largely centered on only three of them, and that this was a mistake, however due to time restrictions for a feature film this was dealt with in an admirable way. looking forward to seeing the parallels (or not) between this adaptation and the stage version.
Catherine.