Structure

The short film “The English Teacher” by Blake Ridder has a chronological structure, although it also involves a few flashbacks. The film follows Robert from the day he receives an email from Jin to the time when Jin confesses that he was the one to blame for Robert’s wife’s death. 

The action is structured around the relationship between Robert and Jin and the two characters’ attempts to deal with loss, grief, and guilt.

The film begins with a flashback of Robert’s wife just before the fatal accident, although the viewer does not understand the significance of this flashback until I it is repeated in more detail towards the end. The film then introduces Robert, who wakes up to an email from Jin, in which Jin asks for English lessons. These early scenes foreshadow that Robert is dealing with grief and loss, as suggested ...