Half Nelson (2006)

A high school teacher faces a personal crisis fueled by his drug addiction. One of his students who faces some dilemmas of her own becomes attached to him.

Probably some of the faults pointed out are true, chiefly among them the unrealism of the central situation; other accusations are simply too narrow-minded to be mentioned. I defend that one should, if not overlook, at least try to see beyond these alleged faults. I do not want to come off as arrogant but it seems that not a few people misunderstood this film badly. In my view, the axis of the film is the idea that the way one views the world conditions the way one lives. Specifically, to view the world dialectically leads to an embodiment of that worldview in the form of a personality that is constantly in conflict with itself (and with others, it goes without saying); drugs are just the lifestyle that naturally suits this state of self. The opposition to that is established in the form of the friendship of a 13-year old girl, which is not dialectic at all, and thus works as the antithesis to the teacher's worldview. This operates in an infinitely self-contradicting framework, since any opposition is dialectic by definition. The film refuses to offer the final synthesis, a stance which is more than adequate to its proposition. There are further layers to this, such as the discussion about the relative positions of drug user/drug dealer, a theme covered also in Tropa de Elite.

P.S.: all of the above but the synopsis is a JOKE (sorry, my very few readers, I am assaulted by a pranking spirit once in a blue moon). Now, my true opinion about HALF NELSON: another inane sundance-thing, posing as a heart-wrenching descent-to-hell-and-redemption tale.

Rating (the real one): 27