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IMDbPro

Educating Rita

  • 19831983
  • PGPG
  • 1h 50m
IMDb RATING
7.2/10
14K
YOUR RATING
Michael Caine and Julie Walters in Educating Rita (1983)
An alcoholic professor has been hired by a working-class girl for higher education.
Play trailer2:18
1 Video
36 Photos
  • Comedy
  • Drama
An alcoholic professor has been hired by a working-class girl for higher education.An alcoholic professor has been hired by a working-class girl for higher education.An alcoholic professor has been hired by a working-class girl for higher education.
IMDb RATING
7.2/10
14K
YOUR RATING
  • Director
    • Lewis Gilbert
  • Writer
    • Willy Russell(screenplay)
  • Stars
    • Michael Caine
    • Julie Walters
    • Michael Williams
Top credits
  • Director
    • Lewis Gilbert
  • Writer
    • Willy Russell(screenplay)
  • Stars
    • Michael Caine
    • Julie Walters
    • Michael Williams
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 97User reviews
    • 28Critic reviews
    • 52Metascore
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Nominated for 3 Oscars
      • 6 wins & 8 nominations total

    Videos1

    Official Trailer
    Trailer 2:18
    Official Trailer

    Photos36

    1 sheet movie poster
    Michael Caine and Julie Walters in Educating Rita (1983)
    Michael Caine and Julie Walters in Educating Rita (1983)
    Michael Caine and Julie Walters in Educating Rita (1983)
    Michael Caine and Julie Walters in Educating Rita (1983)
    Michael Caine and Julie Walters in Educating Rita (1983)
    Michael Caine and Julie Walters in Educating Rita (1983)
    Michael Caine and Julie Walters in Educating Rita (1983)
    Michael Caine in The Ipcress File (1965)
    Michael Caine and Julie Walters in Educating Rita (1983)
    Michael Caine and Julie Walters in Educating Rita (1983)
    Educating Rita (1983)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Michael Caine
    Michael Caine
    • Dr. Frank Bryantas Dr. Frank Bryant
    Julie Walters
    Julie Walters
    • Ritaas Rita…
    Michael Williams
    Michael Williams
    • Brianas Brian
    Maureen Lipman
    Maureen Lipman
    • Trishas Trish
    Jeananne Crowley
    • Juliaas Julia
    Malcolm Douglas
    Malcolm Douglas
    • Dennyas Denny
    Godfrey Quigley
    Godfrey Quigley
    • Rita's Fatheras Rita's Father
    Dearbhla Molloy
    Dearbhla Molloy
    • Elaineas Elaine
    Patrick Daly
    • Bursaras Bursar
    • (as Pat Daly)
    Kim Fortune
    • Collinsas Collins
    Philip Hurd-Wood
    Philip Hurd-Wood
    • Tigeras Tiger
    • (as Philip Hurdwood)
    Hilary Reynolds
    • Lesleyas Lesley
    Jack Walsh
    Jack Walsh
    • Priceas Price
    Christopher Casson
    • Professoras Professor
    Rosamund Burton
    • Deniseas Denise
    Marcus O'Higgins
    • Marcusas Marcus
    Mark Drew
    • Disco Manageras Disco Manager
    Gabrielle Reidy
    • Barbaraas Barbara
    • Director
      • Lewis Gilbert
    • Writer
      • Willy Russell(screenplay) (play) (stage play)
    • All cast & crew
    • See more cast details at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Sir Michael Caine's favorite movie of his own, and the performance of which he's the most proud.
    • Goofs
      O.U. students do not enjoy one to one tutorials with a professor.
    • Quotes

      [Rita is being nosy about Frank's marriage]

      Dr. Frank Bryant: We split up, Rita, because of poetry.

      Rita: You what?

      Dr. Frank Bryant: One day, my wife explained to me that, for the past fifteen years, my output as a poet had dealt entirely with the part of our lives in which we discovered each other.

      Rita: Are you a poet?

      Dr. Frank Bryant: Was. And so, to give me something new to write about, she left me. A very noble woman, my wife - she left me for the good of literature. And remarkably it worked.

      Rita: What, you wrote a lot of good stuff, did ya?

      Dr. Frank Bryant: No. I stopped writing altogether.

    • Alternate versions
      In a version screened on British TV in the '80s and '90s, Frank tells the imaginary Morgan to 'p*** off', not 'f*** off'; Michael Caine's voice is quite badly dubbed.
    • Connections
      Featured in At the Movies: Never Cry Wolf/Rumble Fish/Heat and Dust/Educating Rita (1983)
    • Soundtracks
      Piano Concerto No. 21 in C major, K. 467, 2nd movement Andante
      Written by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (uncredited)

      [Record played in Julia's flat]

    User reviews97

    Review
    Top review
    10/10
    Shaw would be proud.
    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.
    helpful•32
    5
    • budmassey
    • Apr 16, 2006

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • October 28, 1983 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United Kingdom
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Rita will es endlich wissen
    • Filming locations
      • University Philosophical Society, Graduates' Memorial Building, Trinity College, Dublin, County Dublin, Ireland
    • Production company
      • Acorn Pictures
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $14,648,076
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $73,518
      • Sep 25, 1983
    • Gross worldwide
      • $14,648,076
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 50 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Mono
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.85 : 1

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