Entre les murs [The Class] – dir. Laurent CantetIt’d be too easy (and too satisfying) to claim that Hollywood has fallen out of love with the inspirational teacher subgenre that brought us such ham-fests as
Dangerous Minds,
Dead Poets Society,
Mr. Holland’s Opus and (sorry Sister Mary Clarence)
Sister Act 2, for that would be forgetting the unsavory offerings they gave us over the past ten years.
Freedom Writers,
The Great Debators,
Mona Lisa Smile, anyone? In fact, intellectually responding to the pervasive romantic fallacies about a single teacher inspiring their (usually racially diverse) students emerged as a successful trend in both film and television over the past decade. Season 4 of
The Wire is usually the first example to come to mind (and for good reason, more on that later), but other examples like
Half Nelson,
Forest for the Trees [
Der Wald vor lauter Bäumen],
Summer Heights High,
To Be and To Have [
Être et avoir] and even
Mean Girls,
The White Ribbon [
Das weiße Band] and
Happy-Go-Lucky, where the subject is more of a minor note, all address the struggles of the educator and the (often) depreciating toll of their noble intentions.
The gods of cinema must have deemed it uninteresting to make films about teachers whose contributions in the classroom didn’t manage to fill the students (and viewer) with a sense of hope and inspiration (exception given to extreme counterexamples of high schoolsploitation films like
187 and
The Substitute). Because if the world of academia were filled with Mr. Hollands, Sister Mary Clarences and Michelle Pfeiffers, we wouldn’t be faced with the complex, frustrating, almost soul-crushing reality of Laurent Cantet’s
The Class. While the French title
Entre les murs, also the title of star François Bégaudeau’s book on which the film was based, literally translates as
Between the Walls, its English title brings forth an appropriate dual interpretation. Naturally, there’s class in the sense of the physical room or the collective of students, but class on a social level is closer to the prevailing themes of all of Cantet’s films.
Despite changing juries each year, the Cannes Film Festival gave their top honor to three strikingly similar films in the ‘00s: the Dardenne brothers’
L’enfant in 2005, Cristian Mungiu’s
4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days [
4 luni, 3 săptămâni şi 2 zile] in 2007 and
The Class in 2008. Thematically, the films approach class head-on and do so without a hint of sentimentality. Stylistically, all three employ a naked realism, leaving tripods and musical scores behind, and hone an impenetrable atmosphere, layered with surprise, tension and that unshakeable feeling that everything isn’t going to be okay. While that dread fueled
L’enfant and
4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days in the form of suspense, it stirs something a bit different in
The Class. Bégaudeau embodies the same enthusiasm, charisma and passion for teaching as his Hollywood counterparts, but it becomes clear early on that he’s flying without safety net and that perhaps those traits will never trump the apathy of those you’re trying to encourage.
It would be wrong to describe
The Class as bleak however. Cantet, Bégaudeau and co-writer Robin Campillo avoid the incorrigible as much as they do the simplistic. Their collective efforts in trusting the audience, circumventing the easy answers and brazenly confronting a slew of challenging issues make
The Class the triumph Cantet’s films have been consistently building toward.
With: François Bégaudeau, Franck Keïta, Jean-Michel Simonet, Esmeralda Ouertani, Rachel Régulier, Fatoumata Kanteé, Cheick Baba Doumbia, Wei Huang
Screenplay: François Bégaudeau, Robin Campillo, Laurent Cantet, based on the book by Bégaudeau
Cinematography: Pierre Milon
Country of Origin: France
US Distributor: Sony Pictures Classics
Premiere: 24 May 2008 (Cannes Film Festival)
US Premiere: 26 September 2008 (New York Film Festival)
Awards: Palme d’Or (Cannes Film Festival); Best Adapted Screenplay (César Awards, France); Best Foreign Film (Independent Spirit Awards)
Entre les murs [The Class] – dir. Laurent Cantet
The gods of cinema must have deemed it uninteresting to make films about teachers whose contributions in the classroom didn’t manage to fill the students (and viewer) with a sense of hope and inspiration (exception given to extreme counterexamples of high schoolsploitation films like 187 and The Substitute). Because if the world of academia were filled with Mr. Hollands, Sister Mary Clarences and Michelle Pfeiffers, we wouldn’t be faced with the complex, frustrating, almost soul-crushing reality of Laurent Cantet’s The Class. While the French title Entre les murs, also the title of star François Bégaudeau’s book on which the film was based, literally translates as Between the Walls, its English title brings forth an appropriate dual interpretation. Naturally, there’s class in the sense of the physical room or the collective of students, but class on a social level is closer to the prevailing themes of all of Cantet’s films.
Despite changing juries each year, the Cannes Film Festival gave their top honor to three strikingly similar films in the ‘00s: the Dardenne brothers’ L’enfant in 2005, Cristian Mungiu’s 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days [4 luni, 3 săptămâni şi 2 zile] in 2007 and The Class in 2008. Thematically, the films approach class head-on and do so without a hint of sentimentality. Stylistically, all three employ a naked realism, leaving tripods and musical scores behind, and hone an impenetrable atmosphere, layered with surprise, tension and that unshakeable feeling that everything isn’t going to be okay. While that dread fueled L’enfant and 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days in the form of suspense, it stirs something a bit different in The Class. Bégaudeau embodies the same enthusiasm, charisma and passion for teaching as his Hollywood counterparts, but it becomes clear early on that he’s flying without safety net and that perhaps those traits will never trump the apathy of those you’re trying to encourage.
It would be wrong to describe The Class as bleak however. Cantet, Bégaudeau and co-writer Robin Campillo avoid the incorrigible as much as they do the simplistic. Their collective efforts in trusting the audience, circumventing the easy answers and brazenly confronting a slew of challenging issues make The Class the triumph Cantet’s films have been consistently building toward.
With: François Bégaudeau, Franck Keïta, Jean-Michel Simonet, Esmeralda Ouertani, Rachel Régulier, Fatoumata Kanteé, Cheick Baba Doumbia, Wei Huang
French distribution company Ad Vitam just released the official poster for the latest from Sébastien Lifshitz, entitled Plein sud, or in English literally Due South. The film opens nationally on 30 December, after being pushed from August, and will likely make an appearance at the Berlinale in February; Lifshitz's previous film Wild Side won the Teddy for Best Narrative Feature in 2004. The film stars Yannick Renier (Nue propriété), Léa Seydoux (La belle personne), Théo Frilet (Nés '68), Pierre Perrier (Chacun sa nuit) and Nicole Garcia (Duelle) and features a score by John Parrish, Jocelyn Pook and Marie Modiano. I'm probably one of eight people ecstatic about a new film from Lifshitz, but maybe if I mention him enough on here, I can convert a couple more.
As per usual, the day after I make a post about several US distribution deals several more are announced. Sony Pictures Classics paid top-dollar for Juan José Campanella's The Secret in Their Eyes [El secreto de sus ojos], a box office smash in its native Argentina and the country's official submission for the 2010 Academy Awards. Sony previously released the director's Son of the Bride [El hijo de la novia], which did nab an Oscar nomination in the foreign category. In addition to those films, Campanella has directed episodes for numerous US television shows, from 30 Rock to Law and Order to Strangers with Candy.
Strand has picked up Sarah Watt's comedy My Year Without Sex, which recently screened at the Toronto International Film Festival. NeoClassics has taken the rights to Geoffrey Enthoven's The Over the Hill Band [Meisjes]. And finally Cinema Epoch will be releasing Jean-Paul Lilienfeld's Skirt Day [La journée de la jupe], which stars Isabelle Adjani and Denis Podalydès, in spring 2010. I'm sure a bunch of other films will be picked up tomorrow...
The Academy's decision to up the number of Best Picture nominees from five to ten has already been well documented and discussed, but according to Variety, it looks as if the Best Animated Feature category will be movin' on up as well. As per the rules, if there are 8 to 15 eligible animated features released in a year, the category will appear in the ceremony, with three nominees. However, if 16 or more happen to screen, the nominees move from 3 to 5... and 2009 looks to be that year. With the Spanish-produced, English-language Missing Lynx [El lince perdido] making an Oscar qualifying run despite having no US distributor at the time being and GKIDS picking up the French/British/Belgian co-production The Secret of Kells after Empire Pictures fell through for a qualifying run in December, it looks as if that landmark might be crossed this year. I couldn't find a list of all the eligible titles anywhere online, but by my count, we have: Wes Anderson's Fantastic Mr. Fox, Pete Docter's Up, Hayao Miyazaki's Ponyo, Henry Selick's Coraline, Shane Acker's 9, Robert Zemeckis' A Christmas Carol (maybe), Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, Monsters Vs. Aliens, Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs, Adam Elliot's Mary and Max, Stéphane Aubier and Vincent Patar's A Town Called Panic [Panique au village], The Princess and the Frog, Battle for Terra, Astro Boy, Planet 51, some Disney Tinker Bell movie which played for a week before its DVD release and a Japanese anime Evangerion. I've read that Evangerion, Mary and Max (which IFC will be releasing officially next year) and A Town Called Panic (which Zeitgeist has) have made their qualifying runs already and that another GKIDS release, Mia and the Migoo [Mia et le Migou], may do the same. It looks to have been quite a year for animated films... even if I haven't seen a single one of 'em.
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The nominees for the 2009 European Film Awards are in! Culling from 48 films released within a window of 1 July 2008 to 15 July 2009 (the specifics are really murky, as a country can decide whether to submit a film based on their festival premiere or their national release), the official nominees have been announced, some of them expected, some surprising and others downright foolish. Apparently, if the European Film Academy is to believe The Reader is European enough to be included, I guess they're silly enough to think it's a good film. I hope I'm not the only person bothered by films set in foreign countries where all the actors speak English (or worse, with accents!). I suppose a nod for Winslet is always acceptable, but David Kross as well!? Anywho, the nominations for Andrea Arnold's Fish Tank are all well-deserved, especially the less likely choice of Katie Jarvis in the Actress category. The nominees are listed below, and the award ceremony will take place in Germany on 12 December.
Fish Tank - d. Andrea Arnold, UK
Pedro Almodóvar - Broken Embraces [Los abrazos rotos]
Moritz Bleibtreu - The Baader Meinhof Complex [Der Baader Meinhof Komplex]
Penélope Cruz - Los abrazos rotos
Jacques Audiard, Thomas Bidegain - Un prophète
Christian Berger - Das weiße Band
Alexandre Desplat - Coco Before Chanel [Coco avant Chanel]
Francesca Calvelli, editor - Vincere
Ajami - d. Scandar Copti, Yaron Shani, Israel/Germany
Mia and the Migoo [Mia et le Migou] - d. Jacques-Rémy Girerd, France
The Beaches of Agnès [Les plages d'Agnès] - d. Agnès Varda, France
Der Baader Meinhof Komplex - d. Uli Edel, Germany
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