Director: Miles Doleac

Cast:  William Sadler, Colin Cunningham, Jillian Taylor

Running time: 124 mins

THE HISTORIAN, over the course of its ample length, details the nature of academic tenure. Specifically, the temptations and systematic contradictions of a group of lecturers and grad students during their time at a Missouri university. Although the film focuses on Ben Rhodes’ (the director, Miles Doleac) marital strife and fledging career, it quickly turns into an ensemble piece as the viewer is drawn into a nuanced world of lecture hall politics and human frailty.

THE HISTORIAN’s production values are limited, resulting in a low-end TV serial feel to its technical and visual style. What it lacks in flair, it makes up for with a script that successfully develops backstories and literary-grade character development. Miles Doleac uses a subtle flashback technique to create emotional profundity that avoids disrupting the slow yet unperturbed pacing of the film. The leisurely pace is supplemented by a soundtrack of lazy, dreamy country and indie, consistent with the film’s rhythm.

The academic subject of the title serves as an extended metaphor for the bulk of the film’s thematic content. Time and memory are constantly evoked in Ben’s relationship with his separated wife; post-grad Anna’s (Jillian Taylor) passion for the subject is entwined with her sister’s death and the artefacts she stored in a secret room; and lecturer, Valerian Hadley (Richard Sadler) tussles with his father’s advanced Alzheimer’s, who – ironically – in fits of crystalline memories – accesses joyful memories Valerian had long forgotten.

THE HISTORIAN examines two problematic facets of modernity that have affected the values of academia. The first, that university mission statements are now dominated by the logic of the market place and profitability. Bums on seats, ultimately, is what the Dean (Glynnis O’Connor) demands of her lecturers. Secondly, because of this ends-means inversion, what is popular (financially beneficial) doesn’t correlate with the values of quality education. This leads to soft, left-leaning teaching, where the pedagogical power relation of student and teacher is turned on its head. Teachers must pad out their lecture with pop culture analogies and street talk to engage students: a tactic the lecturer Chris Fletcher (Colin Cunningham) maximises to great effect.

Ben acknowledges this dilemma around the hour mark with an extreme example. The Roman’s would kill one in ten of their own troops for failure in battle (decimation). Ben’s educational philosophy is one of Authoritas. He repeatedly implies that treating students with kid gloves fosters degeneration and fails to build character. When being interviewed for the job, he hides these views under metaphors, defanging them with an enthusiasm for historical knowledge. Because accountability, academic rigour and healthy debate are values Ben believes in, he must adapt due to his unestablished status. Valerian, on the other hand, is largely untouchable due to seniority, meaning his minor infractions against the politically correct paradigm are mostly treated with impunity.

The character’s reactions to the film’s climatic transgression demonstrate academia’s unspoken, structural integrity; how, as a house of cards, it must furtively overlook reprehensible acts. The consequences of unveiling said crime would negatively impact the lives of victim and aggressor – further darkening the university’s reputation. Ultimately, ethics and legality are circumvented. For Valerian, Anna, and Ben, their shared love for academic history eclipses the transgression itself.

THE HISTORIAN is a moving, measured film, with strong performances throughout: Richard Sadler is particularly excellent as Valerian. The film successfully captures a small campus in motion, never becoming staid or dull because of its lengthy run time.

Verdict

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