Loved the movie, hated the song 'Jean'

I think it`s a beautiful song and fit the movie quite well. She was young and alive, probably her mid 30`s. It also had a haunting melody.

P.S. He called her "Bonnie" Jean because the story is set in Scotland.

I get that the lyrics were deliberately ironic but his vocals are too wistful as is the melody (which I find sickly) to make the ending haunting, though the final shot of Sandy with the narrative by Jean is very effective. I don't think the song fits the film at all.

To the original poster -- Have you ever heard of "irony?" Yes, Jean Brodie is losing her youth and beauty, and with it, her ability to control others, but that's the point. I'm no fan of Rod McKuen, but the song "Jean" is beautiful and complements the film with bittersweet irony.

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yes correct, but maybe "satire" is the better word.

Jean Brodie is a fraud and the movie is about how one "virtuous gal" was able to spot her from the start and STOP her.

first one was when Sandy forces her to say "do as I say, not as I do".

final was when Brodie admonishes Sandy for acting like Caesar and Sandy says "but you claim to be an admirer of Caesar - good evening"

given the whole movie is so utterly clever [even to the point of PROPHESYING the rise (but no fall) of Germaine Greer the following year], I think we were meant to see the words "run as you will to the top of the hill" as reflecting the fact that at 18 [same as for Angela in the resultant American Beauty] had GOT to 18 and had missed her Wild Oats.

that is to say Hugh was purely a figment of her romantic/tragic FACADE she built around herself, which only Sandy [and Teddy and Miss McKay of course] were able to see through, but only Sandy being able to STOP.

so Sandy asks Teddy how long he will salivate over her body and he says "when you are 18 and OVER THE HILL" - ie much more than a throw away line but reflected in the song as what HAPPENED to Jean.

Sandy [and we can almost call her Lolita] on the other hand was cool enough to not only GET her wild oats [with an older man] but be in CONTROL of the situation, and wow did she shove that down Jean's throat.

the line "neither of us wanted him for his mind" was priceless.

so the song plays up front as we are introduced to this devious but pathetic woman riding her bike to school with her painting "to protect her" and the false COMPOSURE on her face, beaming out at everyone.

the bottom line was the female on female "staring down" contests and we saw that Jean always WON with Miss Mc Kay, but Sandy simply keeps staring at Jean till she cracks and loses her all important composure.

http://www.kindleflippages.com/ablog/

In the original version of the movie, the song was sung during the final credits. In the tape and DVD versions, it is only heard instrumentally even there.

I suspect that Arthur Greenslade, who arranged the score (and, in my opinion, deserves the lion's share of the credit for its effectiveness), also had reservations about the song. Note how he derails it at the first entry of Miss Mackay (as she eventually derails Brodie).