Ça commence aujourd'hui (1999)

User Rating:

7.4/10   

Director:

Bertrand Tavernier

Writers:

Dominique Sampiero (writer)
Bertrand Tavernier (writer)

Release Date:

12 March 1999 (France)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

Daniel is schoolmaster of a kindergarten in a small French town. The local economy, which depended entirely on coal production...

Plot Keywords:

Discouragement | Schoolmaster | Poverty | Punctuation In Title | School Kids

Awards:

9 wins & 8 nominations

Cast

Philippe Torreton	...	Daniel Lefebvre
Maria Pitarresi	...	Valeria
Nadia Kaci	...	Samia Damouni
Véronique Ataly	...	Mrs. Lienard
Nathalie Bécue	...	Cathy
Emmanuelle Bercot	...	Mrs. Tievaux
Françoise Bette	...	Mrs. Delacourt
Christine Citti	...	Mrs. Baudoin
Christina Crevillén	...	Sophie
Sylviane Goudal	...	Gloria
Didier Bezace	...	Inspector
Betty Teboulle	...	Mrs. Henry
Gérard Giroudon	...	Mayor
Marief Guittier	...	Daniel's mother
Daniel Delabesse	...	Marc

Also Known As:

It All Starts Today (Europe: English title)

Runtime:

117 min

Country:

France

Language:

French

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS

Certification:

Netherlands:12 | Australia:M | Argentina:16 | Finland:S | France:U | Spain:T | Sweden:11 | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | UK:12 | Chile:TE

Company:

Canal+

Movie Connections:

References Germinal (1993)

A genuine portrait of a teacher.

A very mediocre French series "l'instit" contributed to giving the audience a false picture of the schoolteacher.In that poor sitcom ,actor Gerard Klein was some kind of superhero (on a motorcycle!) who acted like a pacifist Zorro or K2000.

Bertrand Tavernier and his wonderful thespian ,Philippe Torreton,de la Comédie Française set the record straight.First of all,this is a true story,inspired by a schoolteacher's books.And Tavernier is an artist whose best works ("l'horloger de Saint-Paul" "la mort en direct" and his masterpiece" la vie et rien d'autre")deal with the dignity of man. And as the title says "the future begins today" as everything is possible when the man's young can still wonder,discover,and ... perhaps love the world before he discovers the darker side of it.Because ,for most of the children we meet in this movie,the darker side is at their door,inside their houses,and School is the only way for them of getting away with a somber future.There are courageous lines against the Champagne socialists -When the movie was released,there were commies in the French government-"I could have expected more from a communist mayor!" the teacher says to the notable who closes the canteen to the children whose family is no longer able to pay.There is a very realistic scene between the teacher and his inspector.Although the former 's work is admirable,the state employee slags him off because he's blind and deaf to the world outside him,all he wants to do is to climb the upper rungs of the social ladder .Never the inspector hints at the children's plight,his narrow-minded view remains abstract and completely mindless:how could a group of four year old toddlers be autonomous?

A Tribute to the teachers ,who now more than ever need gratefulness and understanding,Tavernier's movie is deeply moving and deserves to be highly recommended.He equals Kenneth Loach here,not a small feat.