Detachment is occasionally too emphatic, too laboured, or too contrived to be really good. But an inspired performance by Adrien Brody makes up for just about everything. He makes sure that you empathise with the clear-minded teacher who doesn’t give up. Brody, who acted in King Kong and The Darjeeling Limited and won an Oscar for his role in The Pianist, told us what he saw in Detachment. “Tony Kaye, a fascinating individual, wanted to work with me and that suited me fine, as I really love working with creative people. The elegant, beautifully worked-out screenplay moved me. You don’t need any more than that.”
But there was more. “My father was a teacher at a state school. I went to a state school myself and I understand the difficulties. And I have a soft spot for films and film characters that are relevant to contemporary society in one way or another.” So is it a political film? “It is, above all, a relevant film. I’m not one of those actors who are in the public eye and try to push their political ideas. That is not for me. But I will happily stand up for a film like Detachment. For me, this is one of the most important considerations: young people don’t just need schooling in the sense of subject matter or an attractive curriculum: they need passionate encouragement from people they can look up to. People who let you discover that you are worth something as an individual, that you are unique. People who stimulate you to take on creative adventures, to explore the world and feel less alone. So if I have to share a message with you, let it be that.”
Is US public education really in such a bad way as Detachment shows? “The situation is not good. Some schools are struggling to cope with serious violence, shootings and so on, drugs dealing, and gangs. Sadly, that’s part of life in the big cities and schools don’t succeed in keeping it outside their walls. Those problems hang like a dark, black cloud over the education system. Cutbacks are pushing the schools even deeper into the abyss. But I don’t want to go any deeper into that. Detachment is not a film about the problems of the school system. You can’t just leave bringing up children to schools. Parents, family, and society also have a role to take on.”
> READ OUR INTERVIEW WITH DIRECTOR TONY KAYE
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