The History
Boys
Nicholas Hytner
England | 2006 | 104mins | 35mm | Colour
The film follows a group of eight boys; an unruly,
yet highly intelligent class of history students in
pursuit of sex, sport and an undergraduate place at
Oxford or Cambridge. They have a formidable faculty
to deal with. Bounced between their maverick English
master; a young and shrewd teacher hired to up their
test score; a grossly out-numbered history teacher;
and a headmaster obsessed with results, the boys attempt
to sift through it all to pass the daunting university
admissions process. Their journey becomes as much about
how education works, as it is about where education
leads.
Originally a play which swept the boards firstly in
the West End (winning three Olivier awards, including
Best New Play), and then when it transferred to Broadway
(winning six Tony awards). In a rare occurance; the
original stage cast have all been used in the film and
it has been adapted by Alan Bennett, the playwright
and Nicholas Hytner, the play’s original director.
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