The History Boys
Nicholas Hytner / 2006 / UK (1st time; big screen)

Having not seen the play, one would imagine, knowing there have been only slight and minor changes, it is a superb production - well written, great cast (the original cast show here, too), daring and ambiguous, emotionally involved and involving. The narrative here pitches boys either hitting adolescence or caught up in the middle of it; either way, they're all in some way confused, under the direction of their homosexual teacher who they allow to fondle them out of school hours. It's a very funny script, very sharp, acted in a manner not so different from what the theatrical version would require, but captured vividly with a succession of panning zooms, which creates a lot more movement than what would perhaps be expected. As it progresses, it becomes more and more psychologically complex and a lot more serious. Whether the final coda warms or repels is down to taste and/or mood when viewing, but it is cleverly done even so.

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Also, the films I saw in February can be seen here, and the reviews for a lot of them are here.