Film Reviews

The Class

• Rating:
• Director: Laurent Cantet
• Starring:
• Details: FR / 128mins/ (TBC)

On paper The Class shouldn't work; set in (for the most part) one room and using amateur actors with no real storyline for them to get involved in doesn't sound like the most enticing of films. However, The Class's slow burning power can't be denied. A treatise of society in a microcosm, The Class attempts to comment on guilt, law, order, crime and punishment while never bringing attention to any. That 'plot' revolves around young French teacher Marin (Begaudeau, a former teacher who adapted the script from his own novel) as he struggles to assert his authority on the ethnically diverse class of 14 - 15-year-old boys and girls. The Class is more memorable for what it doesn't do than what it does: it might sound like Dangerous Minds, or its superior cousin Half Nelson, but Begaudeau and his director Cantet rein the melodrama in before even a hint of Dawson's Creek threatens to bring all the good work crashing down. The Class manages to sidestep the usual stereotypes that are synonymous with school dramas; there might be a jock, a brain, a bitch and a disturbed, angry kid with a gift hees not encouraged to explore, but they're written so well the pudding is never over-egged. The studentse characterisations live and die in the classroom - we're never allowed a sneaky peak into their home life and when we do get a glimpse of the their background at the PTA meeting, their parents arenet the uncaring and cold cartoon villains that often litter these dramas. There are also no drug problems, no alcoholism, no gangs and no guns either. Begaudeau's Marin might start off as a caring teacher determined to get through to these kids, but he only becomes increasingly frustrated and disillusioned as the film goes on, culminating in an anti-climax rather than tears. The documentary, authentic style - a loose script and freewheeling direction - might be the first to make an impression, but as the film progresses it's the restrained performances of the young kids that really shine. They're so natural, so likely, it's easy to forget we're watching a film, and that is the greatest power a director can have.

Review by Gavin Burke