The Class

2008 "The dynamics of a multicultural class and its teacher will enlighten."
7.5| 2h8m| PG-13| en| More Info
Released: 24 December 2008 Released
Producted By: France 2 Cinéma
Country: France
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website:
Info

Teacher and novelist François Bégaudeau plays a version of himself as he negotiates a year with his racially mixed students from a tough Parisian neighborhood.

Genre

Drama

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Director

Laurent Cantet

Production Companies

France 2 Cinéma

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The Class Audience Reviews

SnoReptilePlenty Memorable, crazy movie
Anoushka Slater While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.
Fatma Suarez The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful
Josephina Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.
NaDurden Keep in mind that I'm a teenage student myself and one reason why I like this movie is because of its great authenticity. I really feel like I'm also a part of that class, you can hear each student express his opinion in the background. You almost want to ask for silence yourself. And this movie even let me sympathize with teachers, only because of that fact it deserves the Golden Palm. You understand each character's motivation. One might even find themselves in one of the protagonists. It's packed with so much energy and passion and there's also a profound meta level with recurring themes such as poverty, racism and injustice, and yet you never actually leave the classroom walls you're in between the students' and teachers' problems, always "entre les murs".
Bene Cumb Entre les murs is not the first film about a school of children of different ethnicities, with different and often problematic backgrounds, but - compared to many others - it is definitely more realistic, without events forming top new stories. But this realism creates a certain aridity and protraction, and unless you are teacher or student, you would probably get upset about the tolerance and teaching level, and begin to ponder on and over degeneration of both education and youth. In the film, we see perhaps a couple of pupils longing for knowledge, most of them have trivial and/or limited interests, are over-sensitive about their ethnicity, tend to regard common disagreements as racial implacability, etc. Even if it is a humdrum of schooling nowadays, I do not approve it, neither I have sympathy for those behaving badly and disturbing others. The staff seems too apathetic, focusing on solutions on paper rather than winnowing "good" out of "bad", and the goal of the entire seems to choose between bad and worse - better a kid in a classroom than on the streets.Well, the cast is pleasant, realistic, beginning with François Bégaudeau, a real-life French language and literature teacher in a middle school in the 20th arrondissement of Paris, and ending with all children who, as to me, seem older than their characters of 13-14 y.o. But still, the film is a kind of perpetuation, without dynamism and character development. As for a feature film, not my cup of tea, really.
anneeholden You find yourself in a room. It is a bland, generic classroom, filled with rowdy French school kids. What an ordeal! Surprisingly, this movie is acclaimed as a great French movie, winning a Palme d'Or, which is one of a movie's highest honors. If you want to watch a movie which is slow moving and reminds you of everything you hate most about school, this movie is perfect! Entre les Murs is a dramatic movie, which was considered quite masterful at the French film festival in Cannes. Directed by Laurent Cantet, this movie won a Palme d'Or. Originally, Entre les Murs was a book written by François Bégaudeau, who is the lead actor in the movie, playing Mr. Marin. Eventually, the book was turned into a movie in 2008. The story is about a conflict between a determined French teacher with four years of experience and his students, who cause trouble in his class, and are determined not to learn. The movie is set in a small middle school on the outskirts of Paris, where the children are all too eager to avoid learning of any kind. Although they respect the school's principal, this diverse group of troubled kids disrespect the teachers on a daily basis, until it gets to the point where it is nearly impossible to control. During the movie, the viewer witnesses parent –teacher meetings, heated arguments between teachers and students, recess, and teacher conferences. The teacher of "the class" is a man named Mr. Marin, who initially appears to demand respect, and uses discipline to set a limit. Later, however, he completely loses control of an already dangerous group of students, and when things get hairy, Mr. Marin finds that even his reputation may be damaged. He is also brought to a rude awakening with the fact that teacher-student interactions are never one way. The beginning of this movie is slow, and never seems to speed up. As it is so eloquently put in the British TV series Doctor Who, "Is this how time normally passes? Really slowly. In the right order." This definitely would describe how it feels to watch Entre les Murs, since it so realistically portrays a classroom that it literally feels like you are being forced to go learn in French class with a strict teacher. As it sounds, it is not very enjoyable. To me, one of the main ideas of this movie is discipline, and the consequences of disciplining somebody. When any of the students in the movie are disrespectful, as they often were, they would be disciplined in regard to their misbehavior. Throughout the school year, however, this seemed to cause worse problems than forgiveness or a nicer punishment would. It seems that in order to be able to punish the students, the teachers must first develop a respectful relationship with them which does not involve friendship or fear, just understanding. In Entre les Murs, this is perhaps the hardest thing for the teachers to master, which is very different from my high school, where all of the teachers understand their students' views. Although they know the content, they don't care in the slightest about any of their students. Sure, they care about their grades, but they do not inquire into their personal life at all, nor do they look into alternate ways of improving these grades other than punishment. Mr. Marin is a relatively new teacher at this middle school, and sheds light on what may be the answer to this problem. I would only recommend this movie to people who can handle the whining complaints of others, or people who would understand the deeper meaning. If someone doesn't understand any deeper meaning in this movie, it is rather dull to watch, with no definite climax or resolution. Although I'm sure the book was much better than the movie, the movie does portray one thing which is pretty accurate: It uses the real students as its actors. The students whine a lot in the movie, so obviously someone must be pretty patient to even deal with actors such as these. Overall, I liked this movie, though I wouldn't watch it again. The character's personalities came through, and you could definitely tell how annoying they must've been in class. If I were to watch this movie on my own, I probably would've seen how slow it was, and switched to a different one. But, as it is, I was in my own French class watching this, so I could report back to you. I honestly don't know why this movie earned a Palme d'Or. Even though it was semi-interesting, it did not strike me as the best movie I have ever watched, and I think it would do better as a documentary. After all, movies are meant to entertain! However, this movie did show us American kids how schools are in France, and I liked that. Also, I can relate to this movie, as some of the characters look a lot like some kids I go to school with. Watch this movie if you have a lot of time and patience, but otherwise, I wouldn't bother with it.
papukamakshi A remarkable movie on contemporary themes of migration, education, integration, individuality, and dilemmas one faces.The French have a style of realism that captivates and arrests you. What happened to whom is not the point of the film. These things could happen to anyone around you is.Moving, honest, and with the illusion of a spontaneity, the narrative gains in truthfulness. The best of us are fallible, the toughest are vulnerable, and no system is good for everyone.See the film if you've been to high school, or been a teacher in one. If you've felt out of place in your school because your color isn't right or your accent isn't right or your parents aren't cool, well, what can I say? See the film.