The Class (2008)
"Entre les murs" (original title)

Teacher and novelist François Bégaudeau plays a version of himself as he negotiates a year with his racially mixed students from a tough Parisian neighborhood.

Director:

Laurent Cantet

Writers:

Laurent Cantet (scenario), Robin Campillo (scenario),

Stars:

François Bégaudeau, Agame Malembo-Emene, Angélica Sancio

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 11 wins & 16 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
François Bégaudeau	...	François Marin
Agame Malembo-Emene	...	Agame
Angélica Sancio	...	Angélica
Arthur Fogel	...	Arthur
Boubacar Toure	...	Boubacar
Burak Özyilmaz	...	Burak
Carl Nanor	...	Carl
Cherif Bounaïdja Rachedi	...	Cherif
Dalla Doucoure	...	Dalla
Damien Gomes	...	Damien
Esmeralda Ouertani	...	Esmeralda
Eva Paradiso	...	Eva
Henriette Kasaruhanda	...	Henriette
Juliette Demaille	...	Juliette
Justine Wu	...	Justine

Storyline

Teacher François Marin and his colleagues are preparing for another school year teaching at a racially mixed inner city high school in Paris. The teachers talk to each other about their prospective students, both the good and the bad. The teachers collectively want to inspire their students, but each teacher is an individual who will do things in his or her own way to achieve the results they desire. They also have differing viewpoints on the students themselves, and how best to praise and discipline them. The administration of the school tries to be as fair as possible, which includes having student representatives sit on the student evaluation committee. Marin's class this year of fourteen and fifteen year olds is no different than previous years, although the names and faces have changed. Marin tries to get through to his students, sometimes with success and sometimes resulting in utter failure. Even Marin has his breaking point, which may result in him doing things he would ...

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Plot Keywords:

student | teacher | school | high school | inner city | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for language

Details

Official Sites:

Haut et Court [fr] Official site [ca]

Country:

France

Language:

French Bambara Spanish

Release Date:

24 September 2008 (France)

Also Known As:

The Class

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

£67,945 (UK) (13 March 2009)

Gross:

$3,766,595 (USA) (5 June 2009)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Haut et Court, France 2 Cinéma, Canal+

Technical Specs

Runtime:

128 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital DTS SDDS (US prints)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The French title - Entre les murs - translated into English means "Between the Walls" (as in a classroom).

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Connections

Featured in At the Movies: Summer Special 2008/09 (2008)

User Reviews

mesmerizing

Best movie I've seen since No Country For Old Men. And you won't hear these two titles mentioned together too often.

The greatest accomplishment was in re-creating, in naturalistic documentary style, well....a classroom. And although it's almost half a century since I participated in such an environment, it seems not an awful lot has changed (well, apart from the total disrespect shown by many of the children towards their mentor). They were all there, mouthy, loud, quiet, bright, stupid. And real, or so it appeared.

Dead Poets Society it ain't. Remarkably free from schmaltz, the film traces a reasonably undramatic class year, with its group dynamics, teacher cock ups, mutinies - pupils that is - with a very small sprinkling of what is being taught academically. The result should have been fairly prosaic and I suppose it was, but I was transfixed by the skill of the players the art of the director and the total ordinariness of the people being so brilliantly portrayed. A terrific achievement by all.