| The Class | |
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Theatrical release poster featuring Esmeralda Ouertani and Rachel Regulier |
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| Directed by | Laurent Cantet |
| Produced by | Caroline Benjo Carole Scotta |
| Written by | François Bégaudeau (novel and screenplay) Robin Campillo (writer) Laurent Cantet (writer) |
| Starring | François Bégaudeau |
| Cinematography | Pierre Milon |
| Editing by | Robin Campillo |
| Distributed by | Sony Pictures Classics |
| Release date(s) | September 24, 2008 |
| Running time | 128 minutes |
| Country | France |
| Language | French |
| Budget | 2 480 000 € |
| Box office | 13 221 320 € |
The Class is a 2008 French drama film directed by Laurent Cantet. Its original French title is Entre les murs, which translates literally to "Between the walls". It is based on the 2006 novel of the same name by François Bégaudeau. The novel is a semi-autobiographical account of Bégaudeau's experiences as a French language and literature teacher in a middle school in the 20th arrondissement of Paris, particularly illuminating his struggles with "problem children" Esmerelda (Esmeralda Ouertani), Khoumba (Rachel Regulier), and Souleymane (Franck Keïta). The film stars Bégaudeau himself in the role of the teacher.
The film received the Palme d'Or at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival,[1] making it the first French film to do so since 1987, when Maurice Pialat won the award for Under the Sun of Satan.
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The film covers an academic year, beginning with the teachers gathering for the autumn term, introducing themselves to each other and being welcomed by the principal, an unsmiling figure wearing rimless glasses. It ends with an informal game of football between staff and pupils and a long hand-held shot of an empty classroom.
The camera never leaves the school. The film is set in the staff room, the playground, the dining room, the principal's office, a conference room, and the classroom where François Marin (François Bégaudeau) is a form tutor who teaches the French language to a mixed group of 14- and 15-year-olds. Nothing is shown of the homes of staff and pupils.
The film concentrates on Marin as he tries to keep order in the class, mediating between conflicting ethnic groups, quieting the rowdy, bringing out the reticent, and trying to educate them. The class is difficult, and in some ways the brightest are the most disruptive. When he teaches them the complexities of French verbs, they challenge the need to know such things, stating its limited use in modern speech. He gives them The Diary of Anne Frank to study, but none of them bothers to read it. One of the smartest pupils, the near-nihilistic Tunisian teenager Esmerelda, says she can't be bothered to read books. Marin tries to get an insight into the inner workings of the pupils; they write self-portraits which describe their aspirations, hobbies and dislikes. These are eventually collated by Marin who creates an end-of-year book with them. Marin manages to win over the sparsely driven Souleymane, from Mali, by allowing him to develop his gift for photography and make his self portrait a pictorial biography. However, Souleymayne's insolence and disobedience are his downfall as a confrontation with Marin and the class ends in an act of violence.[2]
The film has received critical acclaim, achieving a 97% rating at Rotten Tomatoes. Metacritic lists Entre les murs with a rating of 94, making it one of the best reviewed films of the year according to the website.
The film was warmly reviewed by the critic Philip French who noted: "There is a remarkable French tradition of school films, extending from Jean Vigo's Zéro de Conduite, to Nicolas Philibert's Être et avoir. Laurent Cantet, whose parents were both teachers, carries it on and he elicits marvellous performances...As the teacher at a tough, racially mixed, inner-city school in Paris, Marin (François Bégaudeau), neither weary cynic nor wide-eyed idealist, is a decent, determined realist..not a saint, though by the end of the school year he has exhibited certain of the necessary qualities."[3]
The film was the featured 'opening night' selection at the 46th New York Film Festival in 2008.
The film appeared on many critics' top ten lists of the best films of 2008.[4]
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