An astonishing achievement for writer-actor François Bégaudeau who adapted his own book for the screenplay and also stars in this absorbing film about the challenges of teaching in a public school.
The Class (2008)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted: 129
Fresh: 125
Rotten:4
Average Rating: 8.1/10
Consensus: Energetic and bright, this hybrid of documentary style and dramatic plotting looks at the present and future of France through the interactions of a teacher and his students in an inner city high school.
Theatrical Release:Dec 19, 2008 Limited
Box Office: $3,642,327
Synopsis: Winner of the Palme d'Or at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival, master French director Laurent Cantet's THE CLASS is an absorbing journey into a multicultural high school in Paris over the course of a... Winner of the Palme d'Or at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival, master French director Laurent Cantet's THE CLASS is an absorbing journey into a multicultural high school in Paris over the course of a school year. François Begaudeau--an actual teacher and the author upon whose work the film was based--is utterly convincing as François, an openminded teacher in charge of a classroom of youngsters from a wide variety of backgrounds. Of course, the mere fact that he's older and in a position of authority causes his students to challenge him on many occasions. François is stuck in the middle. In the teacher conferences, he butts heads with the harsher adults who don't appear to have any sympathy for their students. In class, his attempts to be lenient and understanding are somehow misinterpreted and he finds himself arguing with the kids that he so clearly wants to help. As the school year progresses, tensions rise, until François finds himself in a position he never imagined he'd be in. Unlike his more formally written early films like HUMAN RESOURCES and TIME OUT, Cantet proves that he has an ability to work in a more improvisational manner. Shooting on HD and working with a cast of young non-actors, he allows THE CLASS to breathe, resulting in a fictional drama that has the spirit and energy of a documentary. His startlingly assured ensemble brings the new, culturally diverse France of the early 21st century to striking life. [More]
Starring: François Begaudeau, Nassim Amrabt, Laura Baquela, Cherif Bounaidja Rachedi
Starring: François Begaudeau, Nassim Amrabt, Laura Baquela, Cherif Bounaidja Rachedi, Juliette Demaille, Dalla Doucoure, Arthur Fogel, Vincent Caire, Olivier Dupeyron, Patrick Dureuil
Director: Laurent Cantet
Director: Laurent Cantet
Screenwriter: Laurent Cantet, François Begaudeau, Robin Campillo
Producer: Carole Scotta, Caroline Benjo, Barbara Letellier, Simon Amal
Studio: Sony Pictures Classics
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Release:
Aug 11, 2009
DVD Features:
- Region [unknown]
- Keep Case
- Anamorphic Widescreen - 2.35
Audio:
- Dolby Stereo - Spanish
- Dubbed - English
- Dubbed, Subtitles - Spanish
- LCR 3.0 - French, English
- Subtitles - English
Additional Release Material:
- Making Of
- Audio Commentary: Select Scene Commentaries
Disc 1:
Reviews for The Class
...this doesn't fall into the easy cliches of the teacher at the bad school miraculously winning over the kids.
...so low key and naturalistically realized that it could easily be mistaken for a documentary
What sets The Class apart isn't simply its less-than-cozy tone, but the fact that it constantly plays against our expectations.
A piercing look at a generation gap that only seems to be gaping ever more widely.
Aposta na ambigüidade e na sensação de estarmos acompanhando os fatos à medida que estes se desenrolam num ambiente de improviso que sempre valoriza o acaso.
So truthful and engaging that you feel part of the class, sitting at a desk in the room as the events slowly unfold.
Every student has some potential, we see, which is why it's so heartbreaking to see them caught in the gears of a public education system that's doing its best, but hampered by limited resources and an institutional mind-set.
The Class offers a compelling and naturalistic look at contemporary teaching and the challenges of a diverse classroom. The film eschews big Hollywood moments and instead goes for quiet telling ones.
Most impressive, Cantet tracks the racial and ethnic resentments that simmer beneath the classroom discussions but become harder to quell when the parents get involved.
A dialogue-and idea-driven, documentary-style work of fictional vérité that defies the heroic teacher myth of Hollywood films like Dangerous Minds and reveals teachers and students as prisoners of the same flawed system.
The hard-hitting film makes most other school-based films resemble child's play, as careers and futures of both the teacher and student hang in the balance, in the uncaring hands of an indifferent system.
The classroom becomes symbolic of society as a whole: An incubator of problems as well as solutions, and a source of disaster and promise, hope and despair, affection and enmity...
Though it generates a few laughs, The Class is anything but uplifting. In the end you find yourself moved not by triumph but by the seeming futility of it all.
The Class ranks with the very best films ever made about teaching, and it's unlike any English or American film about teaching ever made.
The film raises important questions about learning, authority and discipline, and is honest enough to admit that it doesn’t really have any answers.
Latest News for The Class
May 24, 2009:
Cannes 2009: The Tomato Report - Critics Pick Their Awards Favourites
With the Cannes Film Festival winding down this weekend, talk is now turning to who will win the Palme d'Or this evening. We tracked down several journalists covering the fest... More...
January 13, 2009:
Academy Names Nine Foreign Film Finalists
The Academy has narrowed its choices for this year's recipient of the Best Foreign Language Film Award, choosing its favorite nine releases from a field of 65. More...
December 09, 2008:
L.A. Critics Love WALL-E, The Dark Knight
The 34th annual Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards, held January 12, honored Manoel de Oliveira -- as well as a number of outstanding films and filmmakers, all listed... More...
November 03, 2008:
Trailer & Poster review ![]()
More...
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