Detachment (2011)

A substitute teacher who drifts from classroom to classroom finds a connection to the students and teachers during his latest assignment.

Director:

Tony Kaye

Writer:

Carl Lund

Stars:

Adrien Brody, Christina Hendricks, Marcia Gay Harden

8 wins & 4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Adrien Brody	...	Henry Barthes
Marcia Gay Harden	...	Principal Carol Dearden
James Caan	...	Mr. Charles Seaboldt
Christina Hendricks	...	Ms. Sarah Madison
Lucy Liu	...	Dr. Doris Parker
Blythe Danner	...	Ms. Perkins
Tim Blake Nelson	...	Mr. Wiatt
William Petersen	...	Mr. Sarge Kepler
Bryan Cranston	...	Mr. Dearden
Sami Gayle	...	Erica
Betty Kaye	...	Meredith
Louis Zorich	...	Grampa
Isiah Whitlock Jr.	...	Mr. Mathias
Chris Papavasiliou	...	Dr. Hart
Kwoade Cross	...	Andy

Storyline

In Director Tony Kaye's Detachment, Academy Award® winner Adrien Brody stars as Henry Barthes, an educator with a true talent to connect with his students. Yet Henry has chosen to bury his gift. By spending his days as a substitute teacher, he conveniently avoids any emotional connections by never staying anywhere long enough to form an attachment to either students or colleagues. When a new assignment places him at a public school where a frustrated, burned-out administration has created an apathetic student body, Henry quickly becomes a role model as a teacher who actually cares about the well-being of these students. In finding an emotional connection to the students but also fellow teachers and a runaway teen, he finds that he's not alone in a life and death struggle to find beauty in a seemingly vicious and loveless world.

---

Plot Keywords:

teacher | school | part animation | animal abuse | unhappiness | 

---

Genres:

Drama

---

Certificate:

Not Rated

Did You Know?

Trivia

Betty Kaye (who portrays Meredith) is the daughter of Director Tony Kaye.

---

Goofs

In the morning of Erica's first stay in Henry's flat, we see Henry on the roof wearing the ring which Erica will give him days later as a present.

---

Quotes

Henry Barthes: Y'know you can't... you can't keep living on the street...
Erica: I'm not, I mean, I'm staying here with you.
Henry Barthes: Well, you can't continue to stay here with me. I'm not good for you...
Erica: That's not true. You're like, the only family I've ever had...
Henry Barthes: Well, I can't be your family, I can't give you what you need. You have to understand, you should be...
Erica: You're good and gentle, you're the most kind... I love you Henry. Don't let them take me, please nooooooooo, you're all I have, please don't let me go.
[...]

---

Crazy Credits

[intertitle near start] And never have I felt so deeply at one and the same time so detached from myself and so present in the world. - Albert Camus

---

Connections

Featured in Chelsea Lately: Episode #6.46 (2012)

---

Soundtracks

Empty
Written by Ray LaMontagne
Performed by Ray LaMontagne
Courtesy of Stone Dwarf, LLC and RCA Records
by arrangement with Sony Music Licensing

User Reviews

Touching, an inspiration to change.

A story about a teacher who wants to make a difference. Very touching story with some twisted story lines about real life. It makes you see how hard life can be for a lot of adolescents. Of course, the people in this movie project some of the saddest life stories and not everybody has it this hard, but I think a lot of people can recognize some of the life problems of this movie.

Adrien Brody projects the right emotions at the right time in the movie. Sadness, happiness, joy and trauma, every feeling has its place in this movie. The use of real students and an existing school in combination with great filming gives the viewer the feeling its all real. A quality that makes a movie great.

The movie inspired me. I'm a elementary school teacher and I see a lot of kids, sometimes heading in the wrong direction. It gave me a feeling of hope and drive to help these children, even if it seems hopeless.

Please, go and see this wonderful movie!

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

1 February 2012 (France)

Also Known As:

Detachment

Filming Locations:

Long Island, New York, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$10,739, 18 March 2012

Gross USA:

$72,689

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$1,688,710

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paper Street Films, Appian Way, Kingsgate Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

98 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1