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Product Description
The greatest lessons are learnt when life enters the classroom. The tense environment of a tough inner-city school where cultures and attitudes often clash is revealed in this award-winning drama based on François Bégaudeau s best-selling novel Between the Walls. Bégaudeau himself stars as an idealistic teacher of a class of unruly 15 year-olds, whose spiky independence present a constant challenge to his sometimes unconventional teaching methods. Featuring an outstanding non-professional cast of real teachers and students, Laurent Cantet s gripping and sharply observed film offers a microcosm of contemporary society and explores the issues and challenges of education today. SPECIAL FEATURES Interviews with director Laurent Cantet Theatrical trailer
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
20 of 20 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
The Plot
Working in a tough Parisian suburb, teacher François Marin (François Bégaudeau) thinks that he can turn around the fortunes of his unruly class. That is until his class turn on him.
The Review
The winner of the Palme d'Or at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival should definitely come with a health warning prior to viewing. It should warn all potential teachers to avoid watching the film, as once they watch it, they're likely to be put off teaching for life. They should then be provided with an emergency copy of School of Rock and a tub of Ben and Jerry's.
The Class's original French title, Entre les murs, or Between The Walls, is probably a better title for the film, as the classroom at its centre serves as a cauldron of clashes, not only between the teacher and his 24 students, but between the students themselves. During the school year, there are many ups and downs, with the cauldron continuing to bubble and boil over at certain points. What makes the film all the more brilliant is that this could be any class, in any school.
François Bégaudeau has the real life experience, having written a book on his time in the classroom and this comes across in his performance in the lead role. He is an idealist, constantly pushing the boulder up the hill, simply for it to continue slipping back down. The use of real students, teachers and parents also adds to the authenticity of the film.
The Verdict
A lesson in conflict and communication, The Class has much to teach us about education and attitudes towards it.
Working in a tough Parisian suburb, teacher François Marin (François Bégaudeau) thinks that he can turn around the fortunes of his unruly class. That is until his class turn on him.
The Review
The winner of the Palme d'Or at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival should definitely come with a health warning prior to viewing. It should warn all potential teachers to avoid watching the film, as once they watch it, they're likely to be put off teaching for life. They should then be provided with an emergency copy of School of Rock and a tub of Ben and Jerry's.
The Class's original French title, Entre les murs, or Between The Walls, is probably a better title for the film, as the classroom at its centre serves as a cauldron of clashes, not only between the teacher and his 24 students, but between the students themselves. During the school year, there are many ups and downs, with the cauldron continuing to bubble and boil over at certain points. What makes the film all the more brilliant is that this could be any class, in any school.
François Bégaudeau has the real life experience, having written a book on his time in the classroom and this comes across in his performance in the lead role. He is an idealist, constantly pushing the boulder up the hill, simply for it to continue slipping back down. The use of real students, teachers and parents also adds to the authenticity of the film.
The Verdict
A lesson in conflict and communication, The Class has much to teach us about education and attitudes towards it.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
I didn't know whether this film was a documentary or a drama, it turns out that it's the latter, but its appeal is that it feels like reality and evokes the dilemmas and problems experienced by teachers in a secondary school.
It's long, but I stuck with it and it's very satisfying. I don't know how they managed to act it so beautifully, the teacher, Mr Marin, is superb. You really get into his shoes and feel his idealism and his frustration. You see when he makes a mistake by calling two pupils- petasses - and you can see the trouble that's coming. I also enjoyed the perspective on teaching children from many different cultures. Also, it's a great way to refresh your French as there is loads of dialogue which is clear and engaging.
It's long, but I stuck with it and it's very satisfying. I don't know how they managed to act it so beautifully, the teacher, Mr Marin, is superb. You really get into his shoes and feel his idealism and his frustration. You see when he makes a mistake by calling two pupils- petasses - and you can see the trouble that's coming. I also enjoyed the perspective on teaching children from many different cultures. Also, it's a great way to refresh your French as there is loads of dialogue which is clear and engaging.
21 of 24 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
The Class, set in a tough, ethnically diverse comprehensive school on the edge of Paris, follows a group of students and their teacher, whose interactions with one another are sometimes amicable and, at other times, combative. The Class is neither a documentary nor is it, strictly speaking, a docudrama. It is a drama which blurs the line between fiction and reality. Cantet achieved the film's true-to-life feel by using real kids and their teachers from Francoise Dolto Junior High in Paris's 20th arrondissement instead of actors - in much the same tradition as Gillo Pontecorvo's masterpiece, The Battle of Algiers; Ken Loach's Poor Cow and Kes; and more recently Saul Dibb's Bullet Boy. These directors were successful in "engineering" an understated simplicity in their works, as well as creating a heightened sense of realism, achieved by using non-actors to play the main roles, and diverging from a written script. In an interview Cantet revealed no dialogue was written, although a framework story for the students was provided. He also held weekly improv sessions for eight months with the actors, including Francois Begaudeau (who plays the teacher, and also authored the novel and co-authored the screenplay). This process created a sense of spontaneity in each of the scenes. The Class was made with the relatively low budget of 2.3 million euros: It was shot using three high definition cameras (one pointed at the teacher, another on the student at the centre of the scene, and a third camera poised to capture moments of digression).
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Astonishing.
I don't think I can fault this film. It's instantly involving, the acting is impeccable, and it's political allegory is so subtle and just perfect - never patronising or preaching... Read more
Published 4 months ago by DanielJohnson
Quick Question
Hi, this isn't a review, i was just wondering if anyone could let me know before i buy this whether the film has English subtitles. Thank you very much.
Published 5 months ago by safaa
The Class
The High School film where an idealistic young teacher meets up with a bunch of tough kids is a well worn genre. Read more
Published 7 months ago by Moonlit
Very important movie
Excellent movie and an example of social realism at its best and how refreshing it was to watch a film that portrayed the lives of ordinary people. Read more
Published 21 months ago by Gary 78
Killed in translation
Although a lot of the action takes place in the classroom, the film is really about what can go wrong when a school or college ignores what's going on in the community outside. Read more
Published on 22 Mar 2010 by Robert Sheed
It great, but only for one night
In a nutshell: The Class is a good movie, which I quite enjoyed watching mainly because of its charming main character, Begaudeau who teaches a multi-ethnic Parisian high school... Read more
Published on 10 Mar 2010 by L. Frank
Reality Check
I went to see this film with teaching colleagues. I found it scarily true to my own experience as did all the others.
I was inspired to comment because of WILLOW's review. Read more
I was inspired to comment because of WILLOW's review. Read more
Published on 30 Jan 2010 by storm
A fantastic must-see movie
I didn't know much about the film before watching it and so didn't know what to expect. I was largely able to forget that this isn't actually a documentary and became completely... Read more
Published on 27 Jan 2010 by Bookish
Thought provoking and scary
A very good film to watch. Unlike other reviewers, I didn't find this at all ponderous or too talky. Instead, it was thought provoking and scarily accurate. Read more
Published on 23 Dec 2009 by 3inarow
Scarily Accurate...i should know!!!
Now before i begin i should point out that i did not actually see all of this film, only the last hour, however, it sent chills down my spine. Read more
Published on 30 Aug 2009 by Andrew Ross
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