Most popular films about teaching are of the “inspirational” variety, depicting teachers who overcome great odds to fill their pupils with hope and determination for the future (see, among others, Mr. Holland’s Opus, Dead Poets Society, Freedom Writers, To Sir with Love, etc., etc., etc.). Laurent Cantent’s The Class is exceedingly refreshing in the way it fails to live up to all expectations of a “teacher” movie. We see a version of some of the prototypical scenes we are used to from other films set in the classroom (i.e. moments of inner discovery, disturbed children acting out in class, etc.). However, we also see the reality of the day-to-day struggles of an urban teacher who might not be cut out for the job.
The movie’s stark realism can be attributed to the fact that François Bégaudeau, The Class’s writer and star, is a real school teacher. The film depicts Bégaudeau’s semi-autobiographical account as a French teacher in an inner-city Parisian middle school. Many of the teenage actors in the film are Bégaudeau’s actual students. The images we see on the screen, then, fall somewhere on the ambiguous continuum between documentary and constructed reality.
The Class feels stunningly like a year in the life of a real middle school. Moments of profundity are coupled with moments of frustration. Displays of genuine affection between teacher and students precede displays of outer violence. We find ourselves simultaneously smiling and cringing at the behaviors of teacher and students alike.
To describe the film’s plot in detail is to do the movie an immense injustice. It is better to experience the flow of the film as naturally as possible. Let’s just say that I never stopped caring what was going to happen next. This is film is interesting and insightful because it cares about the characters we see before us. They aren’t Hollywood stereotypes, but real people we come to view with simultaneous admiration and frustration.
Watching The Class, I was thinking of other great films that depict an individual’s professional work with great acuity and clarity. Bubble, Chop Shop, and Man Push Cart are three that come immediately to mind. As far as I’m concerned, we need more films of this sort. These movies might not inspire you to join the profession they depict, but they sure provide some insight into why workers in that profession look so tired at the end of the day and why what they’re doing is so important.
The movie’s stark realism can be attributed to the fact that François Bégaudeau, The Class’s writer and star, is a real school teacher. The film depicts Bégaudeau’s semi-autobiographical account as a French teacher in an inner-city Parisian middle school. Many of the teenage actors in the film are Bégaudeau’s actual students. The images we see on the screen, then, fall somewhere on the ambiguous continuum between documentary and constructed reality.
The Class feels stunningly like a year in the life of a real middle school. Moments of profundity are coupled with moments of frustration. Displays of genuine affection between teacher and students precede displays of outer violence. We find ourselves simultaneously smiling and cringing at the behaviors of teacher and students alike.
To describe the film’s plot in detail is to do the movie an immense injustice. It is better to experience the flow of the film as naturally as possible. Let’s just say that I never stopped caring what was going to happen next. This is film is interesting and insightful because it cares about the characters we see before us. They aren’t Hollywood stereotypes, but real people we come to view with simultaneous admiration and frustration.
Watching The Class, I was thinking of other great films that depict an individual’s professional work with great acuity and clarity. Bubble, Chop Shop, and Man Push Cart are three that come immediately to mind. As far as I’m concerned, we need more films of this sort. These movies might not inspire you to join the profession they depict, but they sure provide some insight into why workers in that profession look so tired at the end of the day and why what they’re doing is so important.
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