Line #30 Film/TheGettingOfWisdom


1	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/19926442_sa.jpg]]
2
3	''The Getting of Wisdom'' is a 1977 Australian drama film directed by Creator/BruceBeresford and [[TheFilmOfTheBook based on the novel of the same name]] by Henry Handel Richardson[[note]][[MoustacheDePlume real name]] Ethel Richardson[[/note]], starring Susannah Fowle, Hilary Ryan, Terence Donovan, Creator/{{John Waters\|1948}}[[note]](no relation to [[Creator/JohnWaters the American filmmaker of the same name]])[[/note]], and Creator/BarryHumphries. The film also features early appearances by noted Australian actresses Creator/KerryArmstrong, Creator/SigridThornton, Noni Hazelhurst, Maggie Kirkpatrick, and Julia Blake. Set in [[TheGayNineties 1890s]] UsefulNotes/{{Melbourne}}, the film follows Laura Rambotham (Fowle) as she is sent to attend an exclusive boarding school. Over the next four years, she struggles with such issues as acceptance, conformity, romance, friendship, and achievement.
4
5	----
6
7	!! Contains examples of the following tropes:
8
9	* AllOfTheOtherReindeer: The other girls are resentful of Laura due to her lower-class background, and give her no small amount of grief over it.
10	* AMFMCharacterization: Laura would rather play pieces like [[Music/LudwigVanBeethoven Beethoven]]'s "Sonata no. 21 in C Major" on the piano than the kind of music that the school staff expect of her. [[spoiler:At the final school assembly, she plays that same piece by her own volition, giving an emotional, involved performance that genuinely impresses the staff despite their previous reservations.]]
11	* AmbiguouslyGay: Laura. She resents the boarding school's goals of turning her into a proper lady, says that she DoesNotLikeMen, and [[TeacherStudentRomance enters into a relationship with her also-female music teacher]], but her sexuality is never explicitly confirmed.
12	* AsTheGoodBookSays: The film's title derives from a verse in Proverbs 4:5, which is recited by one of the schoolteachers.
13	* AtTheOperaTonight: Laura attends an opera performance with Evelyn. There she meets Evelyn's friend Jim Meredith, causing her to become jealous when she incorrectly assumes that the two are involved in an intimate relationship when in reality they're JustFriends.
14	* BoardingSchool: The film is set in [[OneGenderSchool an all-girls' one]], based heavily on the real-life Methodist Ladies' College in Melbourne.
15	* BookDumb: Laura, at the start of the film, lacks a formal education in such subjects as history or literature, but is a remarkably gifted pianist, able to play complex pieces entirely from sight.
16	* DeliberateValuesDissonance: Some of the girls casually express anti-Semitic and racist remarks, including a few directed at half-Asian student Annie Johns, whom they nickname "Chinky". Laura at times expresses such remarks as well, although she comes across as more InnocentlyInsensitive than anything else, possibly as a consequence of her less well-off upbringing and/or peer pressure.
17	* DreadfulMusician: When one of the girls, Lilith, is asked to sing a song she'd recently learned, she delivers a badly off-key performance.
18	* EmbarrassingMiddleName: Laura ''Tweedle'' Rambotham. Right from the start, the other girls have a field day taking the piss out of said middle name, often by calling Laura insulting nicknames such as "Tweedledum".
19	* EpicFail: When asked to recite a poem by her teachers, Laura's delivery is utterly ruined by her terrible French pronunciation.
20	* TheGayNineties: The film is set in Melbourne in the 1890s, during the reign of UsefulNotes/QueenVictoria.
21	* HomoeroticSubtext: Between [[TeacherStudentRomance Laura and her music teacher Evelyn]]. In the novel it's merely subtext, but the film makes it more explicit that the two are in a relationship.
22	* HotForPreacher: During her second year, Laura convinces the other girls that she is in a relationship with the school's minister Rev. Shepherd. While some of them fall for it, others are suspicious, believing that the Reverend, who is already married, would never put his reputation on the line by carrying out an affair with a teenage student. Once the truth is revealed, the girls chew out Laura for besmirching his good name by spreading such rumours.
23	%% NaiveNewcomer: Laura.
24	* NoCommunitiesWereHarmed: The boarding school is heavily based on the real-life Methodist Ladies' College in Melbourne.
25	* PennyAmongDiamonds: Laura comes from a simple working-class background, in sharp contrast to her fellow students. This causes a great deal of friction between her and the other girls.
26	* PublicDomainSoundtrack: The film's score is comprised primarily of various piano works by Music/LudwigVanBeethoven, Music/FranzSchubert, and Sigismond Thalberg.
27	* PutOnABus:
28	** Maria, once she gets engaged to an unknown man, is immediately sent packing and is never seen again.
29	** When Evelyn's parents return from a teaching assignment in Europe, she is forced to depart, leaving Laura devastated.
30	* RichBitch: Most of the girls come from rich families, and aren't exactly the most pleasant people to be around, especially if you aren't from the same social stratum as them.
31	%% RichLanguagePoorLanguage
32	* SignificantWardrobeShift: At the end of the film, [[spoiler:Laura throws away her hat and gloves to express her relief at finally being free from stuffy, confining environment of the boarding school]].
33	* SpoilerCover: The poster spoils the scene at the end where [[spoiler:Laura celebrates her relief at finally being rid of boarding school by tossing off her hat and gloves and running across a nearby parkland to freedom]].
34	* SternTeacher: Mrs. Gurley is a quintessential example. The first thing she does is lay down the rules of the school, which she expects NaiveNewcomer Laura to uphold to the letter. Later, she chastises Laura for playing pieces by [[Music/LudwigVanBeethoven Beethoven]] or Thalberg on the piano instead of the kind of music that she's expected to play
35	* StickyFingers: Annie, one of Laura's few genuine friends who doesn't look down on her for being less well-off, has a habit of stealing items from the school staff, particularly money and jewelry. Once they find out, she is immediately expelled.
36	* TeacherStudentRomance: Laura becomes infatuated with her music teacher Evelyn, and is devastated when she leaves.
37	* VitriolicBestBuds: As the film progresses, the other girls mellow out a bit and their interactions with Laura become a bit less strained, although they still give her a lot of heat for her working-class background.
38

Context Film / TheGettingOfWisdom