Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.5

Conrack Blu-ray Movie Review

Goodbye, Mr. Conroy.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman March 28, 2014

Martin Ritt was a director who was not shy about wearing his rather liberal heart on his sleeve. While some of his films evince a trenchant cynicism (The Spy Who Came in from the Cold), many of Ritt’s films from the late sixties through the late seventies looked at several hot button issues like the treatment of Native Americans (Hombre), race relations (The Great White Hope, which couched the subject in a biographical context), workers’ rights (The Molly Maguires), the plight of poor Southern blacks (Sounder), the Hollywood blacklist (The Front), and workers’ rights (again), this time with an emphasis on unionization (Norma Rae). It’s easy to see, then, why Conrack appealed to Ritt—it’s an unabashedly sentimental film that depicts the heroic efforts of a young teacher named Pat Conroy (Jon Voigt) to educate a group of isolated black students who have lived their entire lives on an island off the South Carolina coast without having learned even the most rudimentary of subjects like counting or the alphabet. It’s the sentimentalism that gets in Conrack’s way, though, and is perhaps unexpected from a director who tended to deal more in a kind of truculent approach that as often as not seemed to be figuratively asking the audience, “Can you not see how unjust this situation is?” Conrack is often a moving film, but it’s also problematic at times, casting characters in black or white categories, certainly an ironic situation considering the film’s potent subtext of the inequalities suffered by the indigenous population of the fictionalized Yamacraw Island (the film was based on Pat Conroy’s memoir The Water is Wide).

Pat Conroy is an idealistic young teacher who in 1969 has decided not to cut his hair until the war in Vietnam has ended, leading one of the first people he encounters on Yamacraw Island to inform him his tresses will ultimately reach down to his butt. Conroy is initially excited about the prospects of taking on a coterie of new students, but he’s obviously perplexed with Yamacraw’s other teacher and school principal, Mrs. Scott (Madge Sinclair), details her belief that the “lazy” and “unruly” black students of Yamacraw need to be “stepped on” and even “whipped” in order to keep them in line. Conroy is actually outraged once he realizes that many of the kids don’t have even the most rudimentary of skills.

One of the film’s more interesting elements, and one that is historically based, is the island natives’ use of the Gullah dialect, one which apparently made pronouncing the name “Conroy” difficult, if not impossible. That is how Conroy became Conrack. It’s an admittedly minor issue in the film, but it’s significant in that it further exemplifies how “separate” the peoples of Yamacraw are from not just the American population at large, but even their neighbors in South Carolina. In fact, Conroy is surprised to find out that many of the kids have never ventured off of the island, a plot point that becomes central to a conflict that erupts between Conroy and a martinet superintendent played by Hume Cronyn.

Conrack falls in step with a long line of films which lionize the noble art of teaching, reaching back to such classics as Goodbye, Mr. Chips and which would still be finding voice years after Conrack’s release in such outings as Dead Poets Society. Voigt portrays Conroy as a lovable goof, a big, verbose guy who relishes introducing the kids not just to basics like reading, writing and arithmetic, but to some of life’s more cultural pursuits, like the music of Beethoven and Brahms. What's fascinating here, albeit frustrating, is how sanguine the island elders are about the general level of ignorance in the children. There's actually a bit of a reactionary element to Conroy's arrival, something that gives the film much of its dramatic momentum.

The supporting cast is quite winning, especially Sinclair in a role that could have come off as little more than an unfeeling martinet. There actually seems to be some emotion buried deep within Mrs. Scott that has been soured through years of frustration. Paul Winfield is also on hand in a smallish but showy turn as yet another island native who has little tolerance for Conroy's intrusions. Ritt and cinematographer John A. Alonzo capture the raw beauty of the fictional island, investing the film with an almost ironic sylvan luxury which contrasts rather dramatically with the primitive living conditions the islanders experience.

Quite a bit of this material is cliché ridden, though admittedly never less than fully entertaining, and it’s also obviously designed to tug rather forcefully on the heartstrings. Where the film actually may provide more interest is its denouement, which is where married screenwriters Irving Ravetch and Harriet Frank, Jr., along with Ritt, finally really let loose with some piquant social criticism when Conroy is fired from his job, ostensibly for deigning to think his charges could actually learn something. Ritt makes it clear that while there’s an undeniable defeat in this turn of events, there’s triumph as well, as the children’s “parting gift” to their teacher makes clear.

Conrack Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Conrack is presented on Blu-ray with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.37:1. While this is generally a very pleasing looking high definition presentation, there are some minor contrast fluctuations that affect the dimly lit interior scenes at times. Otherwise, though, colors are well saturated and accurate looking, and close-ups and midrange shots are decently detailed. The overall look of the film isn't overly "sharp" in today's parlance, but this is a faithful recreation of the often diffused lighting style that Ritt and Alonzo opted for in the film. There is absolutely no sign of either denoising or digital sharpening and this transfer retains a very natural organic appearance.

Conrack Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Conrack features a lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 (mono) mix which captures the film's dialogue, ambient environmental effects, and John Williams' almost Randy Newman-esque folksy score with excellent fidelity. There's not a whale of a lot of depth here, but things are well prioritized and the track has no issues of any kind to report.

Conrack Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Isolated Score Track also includes effects and is delivered via DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0.


• Theatrical Trailer (480p; 2:41)


• Commentary with Paul Seydor and Nick Redman. Seydor has taught both Literature and Film courses at the university level, and in fact used to use Conrack as an example of a "deferred" American dream film (one he says he paired with Harlan County, U.S.A.). He gives some astute historical information (including some interesting details about the Gullah dialect) as well as not shying away from some of the film's less successful elements.

Conrack Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Conrack, maybe a little like its titular teacher, may try just a little too hard to win over its audience. Ritt really wears his heart on his sleeve in this outing, without the more cynical subtext that sometimes informed his other more caustic outings. The film provides a great showcase for Voigt, who is extremely lovable in the title role, but it may be Sinclair's work that will remain with many viewers the longest. There's an almost palpable feel for the time and place of the story, and, while a bit hackneyed in its tone and execution, Conrack's heart is obviously in the right place and its intent is purely noble. Recommended.