Based on the French best-seller Entre le Murs, which literally translates into “Between the Walls”, Laurent Cantet’s The Class casts the author of that book, François Bégaudeau, in the role of himself as a real-life inner-city high-school teacher in the trenches of the war between classical education and the ever-changing face of modern culture. What initially bears the stamp of a typical retread of white-teacher-inspires-multi-ethnic-students melodrama turns out to be something much funnier than one might expect from the director of brooding dramas like Time Out and Human Resources.
Cantet spent months auditing Bégaudeau’s classes and ended-up casting many of the students as themselves in the film. Like many of its egregious American counterparts (Dangerous Minds and Freedom Writers, to name a few), Cantet’s film has outfitted Bégaudeau with a melting pot of cultural and racial variants, including a Goth and a smart Asian kid. Unlike those films, however, no effort is made to either pigeonhole these identities or sanctify François. Though it garners much of its action through simple debate, one of the film’s central dramas concerns François accusing two of his students of ‘acting like skanks’. That the teacher never becomes characterized as sinner or saint reveals a great deal of depth in Cantet’s material.
Cantet keeps his camera on a tight leash, rarely allowing it to venture outside Bégaudeau’s classroom. The little history we are given about the students is delivered in boyish braggadocio, excited chatter and whispered rumours. At one point, a gaggle of Bégaudeau’s students berate and bully the teacher about a popular rumour that he’s gay. Thanks to Cantet’s unrelenting focus, we are never told if Bégaudeau is gay, a Sarkozy supporter, or has a German grand-uncle who fought in the Battle of the Bulge.
Later on, the violent outburst of one of François’ more outspoken students becomes a concern, prompting a meeting over possible expulsion. Accompanied by a mother who can speak only scattered French phrases, the student becomes the lynchpin of the movie when it is argued whether or not he should be kicked out of the school. An orderly tribunal allows for high-minded debate between François and his colleagues, but the teacher gets the business from his students. Hopelessly unable to find common ground, Bégaudeau and his fiery teens allow for one of the more simple and engaging looks at the victories and turmoils of democracy to ever be put on screen.
Though its ideas on the political majority prove fascinating and hugely entertaining, the film’s clashing concern over education ultimately elevates The Class from simple intrigue to a work of fervent discourse. Bégaudeau attempts to teach the students through classical texts, including The Diary of Anne Frank, but is consistently overcome by a rambunctious, internet-educated culture. So weak is Bégaudeau’s own confidence in classical teaching that when one of his more sassy students quotes Plato’s Republic, he is completely dumbfounded. Cantet’s reaction to the hyper-modern, surprisingly well-rounded discussions that the kids often initiate and which François scrambles simply to keep up with, is similar. It begs the question: what shall we do if the teachers are the ones who need a better education?
Chris Cabin |
