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Critics Consensus: A small, sensitive, and moving portrait of a teacher and his students.
Critic Consensus: A small, sensitive, and moving portrait of a teacher and his students.
All Critics (59) | Top Critics (22) | Fresh (57) | Rotten (2) | DVD (2)
It demonstrates without overreaching what an actual teacher can do to shape lives.
A counterintuitive film about a small schoolhouse in rural France, To Be and to Have gets its punch from simple scenes and conversations.
To Be and to Have is a movie every teacher should see, and every parent, too.
At times, it feels as stultifying as watching paint dry, without the recompense of sniffing fumes.
Watchful viewers -- particularly those with fond memories of a favorite teacher -- will be deeply moved by this film.
Amounts to a rare gift and an opportunity to appreciate the end of an era.
The beauty of To Be And To Have is that Lopez's loss isn't the audience's. This movie is a portal, leading to a living museum of childhood.
The most unvarnished cinematic portrait of childhood I've ever seen.
One of those rare movies that works as a humbling experience.
This is a film that all aspiring teachers should see, as well as veteran teachers who might have lost track of what teaching is all about.
As touching as Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1939), this is an excellent companion to Spellbound, another beguiling documentary about children.
The American school system would do well to take a page from Mr. Lopez's slow-but-steady curriculum.
Apparently there was a lot of talk about the teacher and whether he was all that he appears to be which is seemingly the perfect teacher. This film brings out all the warm feelings of nostalgia for those early days of learning with the first teachers that we loved. Incredibly sweet.
Super Reviewer
A little cute & touching documentary
A sweet look at a teacher in a small French town and the children he teaches. We watch as he teaches them and they grow up and finally leave. It is moving and sad. We learn about the children and get to know them in a piece of voyeuristic brilliance.
[font=Century Gothic]"To Be and To Have" is a documentary that focuses on Georges Lopez who has been teaching at the same one-room schoolhouse in rural France for the last 20 years(very quaint by the way) and is about a year away from retirement. He teaches a group of elementary school students of various ages.[/font] [font=Century Gothic]But here's my question: why is there a documentary about this particular teacher and this classroom? What is so special about it? Lopez apparently does an excellent job but that is what all teachers should be doing anyway, right? (We never see the positive effect that this teacher might have had on his past students.) Another clue lies in the rural setting. It is implied that a quality education can improve the children's lives over those of their parents but all people need a quality education, especially in a democracy. And yes, the children are adorable but the movie exploits that simply for entertainment value.[/font]
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