| Directed by Laurent Cantet, and based on a semi-autobiographical novel by François Bégaudeau, The Class ("Entre les murs" literally "Between the Walls") tells the story of François Martin, a teacher in a rowdy, inner-city middle school in Paris, a microcosm of the conflicting cultures and attitudes in contemporary France. François Bégaudeau stars in "The Class". Cantet filmed The Class (http://www.sonyclassics.com/theclass/) in a faux documentary style, using multiple improvised shots of real students and real teachers in a multi-ethnic French class in urban Paris. Shot almost entirely in a single classroom, much of the film chronicles François' verbal confrontations with his French, African, Caribbean, Moroccan, Turkish, and Asian students. While he may not be a perfect teacher, François is effective in his pedagogic methods, much like Sidney Poitier's Mark Thackeray character in To Sir With Love. (The films have much in common.) In one pivotal scene, he uses the word "pétasse" to describe two of his street-savvy female students (which translates as "skank"), which prompts a classmate, Soulaymane (Franck Keita), to defend them at the risk of being expelled and sent back to Mali. In another pivotal scene, one student tells François at the end of the school year that she has learned nothing and has understood nothing in his class. The Class is a brilliant film, and yet another example of why French cinema surpasses Hollywood these days. A thought-provoking characterization of diverse ethnic 21st-century Paris. Highly recommended. (FROM AMAZON; EDITED BY KEITH CALANDRA) |
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