The lone teacher and a band of thirteen year olds.

The Class is based on François Begaudeau's novel Entre les murs.  The author plays himself as a French teacher in an inner city, racially and ethnically diverse middle school.  Although it takes place in Paris, the issues are very universal.

As the movie opens, François Marin and the other teachers are preparing for another school year.  It is interesting to watch these teachers when they are alone with each other.  They look at each others class lists and remark on the good and the bad students. The teachers have a meeting about student discipline, but they end up spending more time talking about a coffee machine in the teachers lounge.

These are not lousy teachers, they seem to want to inspire their students to succeed.  However, the teachers are as unique as their students.  They each want to do things their own way.  One teacher gets so frustrated he wants to quit.  He storms into the teachers lounge making fun of his students.

Marin is a bit frustrated himself.  From the very first day, we see his patience is limited, as he scolds his students for taking too long to settle down.  We quickly see which kids are the obnoxious ones and which are the shy ones.  Personalities emerge quite easily.  The kids speak up often and out of turn.  Surprisingly, so does Marin.  He engages the students in conversation that sometimes turn personal or into arguments.

At one point a boy asks Marin if he is gay?  Marin challenges him by asking why he needs to know, implying that maybe the boy is sexually interested.  It goes no further.  The movie hits a rock when Marin calls two girls in the class Bitches.  Granted, they are, but he does it in front of the entire class and he tries to defend himself by saying it was what he was comparing their actions too, and not actually saying they are bitches.

The Class shows the students in a raw manner.  Some think Marin picks on them because he calls on them to read aloud.  Another is jealous because Marin compliments another students report.  They take things very personal, even when it is not intended to be.

After reading Anne Frank, he assigns them to write about themselves.   They argue that it is personal, but when they read their reports, all most of them say is what they want to be and what kind of music they like, as if that is so private.  None of them realize that their actions in that class give away more of their secrets than anything they write on paper.

The Class won The Golden Palm at Cannes and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Film.  This is not a traditional film by any means and as such is more insightful than Half Nelson, more realistic than To Sir With Love and more engrossing than The Blackboard Jungle.   It does not actually present any solutions, but it opens up the school system in an honest way never before put on film.  You will not soon forget this movie.

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