The Class (2007)
"Klass" (original title)

An average guy of an Estonian high-school decides to defend his bullied classmate. This starts war between him and the informal leader of the class. As teenagers' honour is a touchy thing, everything ends in bloodshed.

Director:

Ilmar Raag

Writers:

Ilmar Raag, Vallo Kirs (writing team),

Stars:

Vallo Kirs, Pärt Uusberg, Lauri Pedaja

5 wins.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Vallo Kirs	...	Kaspar
Pärt Uusberg	...	Joosep
Lauri Pedaja	...	Anders
Paula Solvak	...	Thea
Mikk Mägi	...	Paul
Riina Ries	...	Riina
Joonas Paas	...	Toomas
Kadi Metsla	...	Kati
Triin Tenso	...	Kerli
Virgo Ernits	...	Tiit
Karl Sakrits	...	Olav
Liina Joonas
Saara Kadak
Kaspar Kannelmäe
Brita Kikas

Storyline

Kaspar and the class pushover Joosep are 16 and life in high school isn't easy. Without meaning to, Kaspar defends Joosep against the bullying of his classmates, but every time Kaspar tries to him, it backfires, with the class taking it out on Joosep. Kaspar just wants his friends, his girl and his unassuming life back. Joosep wants to regain his dignity and the chance to switch to a high school far away. But their classmates are relentless, going further and further with each incident.

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Plot Keywords:

high school | school | bullying | semen | teacher student relationship | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Country:

Estonia

Language:

Estonian

Release Date:

16 March 2007 (Estonia)

Also Known As:

Az osztály

Company Credits

Production Co:

Amrion, Eesti Televisioon (ETV)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

99 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The actors ad-libbed many lines (including slang).

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Goofs

Kaspar cut off the mark on his jacket on the fourth day, but on the sixth day in the beach scene his mark is still on the jacket.

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Quotes

Anders: Get it, man... Nobody in our class protects Joosep.

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Connections

Followed by Klass - Elu pärast (2010)

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Soundtracks

"Mis on au?"
Performed by Eskimo
Eskimo Klassimix
Eskimo 2007

User Reviews

I wonder if I'll ever gather my guts to see this again

Its been a while since I saw a movie that left my guts so unsettled. I have seen several graphic movies about rape, terrorism, cruelty, hatred. Some of them have managed to touch my soul and move me to tears. But none of them prepared me for this movie. The only movie that probably came close to making me feel so horrible was Chandi Bar. This movie will leave you with a lot of anger and hatred.

We have seen the horror of gun possession with minors in movies like Elephant and American History X. But this movie goes beyond irresponsible and erratic use of a gun. This movie projects basic human feelings and the results of mob mentality and repressiveness anger. Most viewers can relate to this movie because they have all experienced school violence, either first hand or otherwise.

About the movie itself, the direction, cinematography and acting are all A-grade. You always feel at the center of each and every scene. This is what the movie does best. It involves you. And when you are done watching it, it will make you think about it and discuss it. It'll make you think of what's wrong with our education system and what can be done to prevent something like this from happening.

It kinda falls into the category of movies which make you lose faith in humanity. Don't get me wrong. We are capable of kindness too. But it is equally true that we humans can be very cruel and we should not ignore this facet of our basic instinct. There are many interventions that could've prevented the ending that the movie projected. But the reason the movie hit me so hard is coz' of the way it ended.

I would definitely recommend this movie to all those movie buffs who aren't afraid of watching movies with serious subjects. Stay away from it immediately before sleep time. This film will leave you so unsettled; you may not be able to sleep for next couple of hours.

As for me, I wonder if I'll ever gather my guts to see this great film again.