The Class (Entre Les Murs)
by Laurent Cantet
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Agame Malembo-Emene, Angélica Sancio, Arthur Fogel, Boubacar Toure, François BégaudeauDirector: Laurent Cantet
Brand: Sony
Writer: François Bégaudeau
Writer: Laurent Cantet
Producer: Barbara Letellier
Producer: Carole Scotta
Producer: Caroline Benjo
Producer: Simon Arnal
Writer: Robin Campillo
DVD: Region Code 99
Audio: English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); French (Original Language); Spanish (Original Language); English (Original Language); English (Dubbed); Spanish (Dubbed)
Format: AC-3, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: Anamorphic Widescreen, 2.35:1
Running Time: 128 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2009-08-11
Audience Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Movie Reviews of The Class (Entre Les Murs)
Movie Review: Incredible
Summary: 5 Stars
The Class, Entre Les Murs, is a seductive movie. It is a very difficult movie to review, since there are so many things going on, so many good things to say, so many nuances, and so many layers.
Laurent Cantet has captured the spirit, the pain, the elation, of the classroom in a high school. He has done something no other director has ever accomplished, a realistic view of the mind of a teacher and a classroom. This film looks like a documentary initially. We get to know the students and Francois the teacher better and better, and it becomes clear, this is a scripted film. But yet there's another voice that says, these are kids in this film, maybe they are 16, but they are kids; all acting incredibly well - if this is a scripted film. In the end, this film is both, a bit documentary (or more accurately, improvised), a bit scripted. No matter - this is one heck of a powerful film.
This is the story of Francois Marin, a 4/3 French teacher in an inner city school; the 20ème Arrondissement way eastern never seen by tourists Paris; (if I'm not mistaken, this is the area where the riots occurred a few years ago over immigration laws). The grade roughly translates to 8th grade in the US - these are supposed to be 13-15 year old kids. The film follows a scholastic year, from the first day of school to the very last. Francois is a slightly young teacher and tries to navigate his way through truly teaching his students literature and the French language; and dealing with students with some significant personal issues.
Ah the summary, any that I read, and even the one I just wrote; they just don't do this film justice. This is an intense mental drama between the faculty of the school, Mr. Marin, and his students. There are moments of incredible triumph where a student says something amazing, and deep dispair when the students and faculty just fall into their easy pitiful lives of doing the wrong things.
I loved this film so much. My wife, a teacher for almost 30 years, also loved this film. She said that the film was very accurate emotionally, especially as a new young teacher would feel. But similar things happen today.
The great parts of this film.
It won the Palme D'Or (or best picture) at Cannes in 2008. The children in this film all attended the screening in Cannes and got to walk the red carpet.
The movie is based on a novel written by François Bégaudeau. Who also wrote the script for the film, along with the director and Robin Campillo. And then even more remarkable, he starred as Francois Marin, the French teacher. How many movies can be credited with that much buy in by the original author of a book?
Laurent Cantent chose to use real students and teachers for this film. The movie was scripted and then tested and improvised by the cast in a classroom before any filming even started. He took the time to get the dialog right, believeable, and honest. While watching this film, remember, these are not professional actors.
The subtitles were done exactly right to get a PG-13 rating. The huge advantage film makers have with foreign language, they can tailor the translation to get the rating they want as long as the images don't betray the desired rating. The French language is really really course. A taste of a real translation can be seen in the bonus features.
The cautions.
This is by no means Stand and Deliver, or Akeelah and the Bee (Widescreen Edition) - in their own rights wonderful portraits making a very different point. The Class is a portrait of a teacher struggling to teach. The other two films are about teachers trying to achieve a very narrow goal - passion around math and winning a competition; and passion around spelling and winning a competition. In many ways the American films are a classroom Rocky. The Class is an intimate study of the classroom.
The French school system is completely and utterly different from the US school system. The struggles Francois faces are universal. The manner in which he approaches those struggles, the language he uses in class, the way the students act, are all unique to the French. This is not, as it may be advertised, a view to American inner city schools.
The film is 2 hours and 9 minutes long. Its possible there are a few slow spots here or there where the film could be tightened up, but I think the film is exactly the right length. The cinematography is just absolutely spot on. There's a lot of handheld shots (they filmed with three cameras in the classroom to get coverage - and it appears that all three were handheld); but the film never had that annoying random movement disease. Camera movement was deliberate and with reason. Sound was perfect for this film; its all about dialog and it was recorded very well.
The DVD - oh my the DVD.
In one sitting I watched all 2 hours 9 minutes of this film. I then immediately opened up the bonus features. The best made, bar none, making of featurette is on this DVD. At almost 42 minutes it is a treatise on many of the unique techniques used to make this film. The last 10 minutes was a bit rough to sit through, just from sitting for so long. It does include the children at Cannes, a remarkable moment.
There are two very very very detailed discussions of two scenes by the director and Francois Begaudeau. The first, The Imperfect of the Subjunctive, at 15 minutes is almost overload - but still remarkable with the insights. The second, The Courtyard Dispute, at 8 minutes just lost my attention. The scene was so intense in the film, I could not bring myself to see it dissected.
A word on language. The DVD is presented with English or Spanish subtitles (they can be turned off). Three soundtracks are available, native language French, English, or Spanish. In my opinion, it would be a crime to watch this film dubbed in English. I listened to about 10 minutes of the dubbing and it is so hideous, absolutely no feeling, horrible voices, and the well recorded ambient sound is ruined. Please, I beg you, watch this film in French even if you don't understand one word of French, and turn on the subtitles.
The Class is a remarkable film. It is a view inside a place everyone has seen, but few really see from this vantage point, the eyes of a teacher. It is a moving film, presented on a DVD with amazing bonus features. Well worth owning.
Summary of The Class (Entre Les Murs)
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