Class (1983)

The film is about an upper middle-class student named Jonathan and his adventures in prep school, from his very first day there. He shares a room with a student from a very traditional and wealthy family. The center of the drama is Jonathan's relationship with an older woman whom he meets during one of his escapades into town. This adventure turns out to be dramatic indeed, for reasons which will become clear if you watch the movie or read spoiler-infested sites like Wikipedia.

Mostly a teenage school movie with the usual pranks and sexual jokes, but there is an underlying theme which is implied by the double-meaning title. The question is whether one's position in society is on a par with one's real inner qualities. The film examines the issue by showing a clearly dysfunctional family. The father is a laissez-faire enthusiast except when it comes to tariffs ("How you gonna compete with the foreigners?") -- that is exactly Trump's doctrine, incidentally. The mother is unfaithful and an alcoholic -- the film implies that it is not her fault (but further scenes excusing her behavior were cut). The film is a little vague about main character Jonathan. I guess he is upper middle class because I gather it takes money to buy an SAT's results, but the fact that he is very impressed with his roommate's estate seems to be evidence that he is not all that rich. Oh well, perhaps this film was not that well thought out. As I said, just another teenage movie, and not one of the better ones.

Rating: 35