WHAT REALLY GOES ON IN "THE CLASS"

“There are many films that chose schools as settings, but very few that are actually about life in schools. That’s the story I’m trying to tell.” This may not be word for word, but it is the basic mission statement of Laurent Cantet, director of Entre Les Murs. He was given a Palme D’or at the Cannes film festival for his troubles. Let’s take a closer look at the film, shall we?
Well, at first glance the story basically reads like the 90’s classic Dangerous Minds, only in French. François Marin, a new teacher, arrives for his first term at a high school in a poor district of the big city. The students are from all manner of different backgrounds and have all manner of different disciplinary problems. They also have a terrible attitude towards all authority figures. Monsieur Marin most definitely has his work cut out for him.
So what’s new? Why does Laurent Cantet deserve a Palme D’or for this? Well, sometimes the way a story is told is as important as the story itself. For example, would it surprise you to find out there was only one single actor in the whole film?
No, no, it’s not one of those bizarre experimental films, not in the sense you’re thinking of, anyway. Go back to Monsieur Cantet’s mission statement, what was he aiming to do? Portray real live in schools. Ok, how do you make sure you do that? You ask the experts. Psychologists? No. Students and teachers. In fact the only actor in the film plays François Marin, the rest are genuine high-school students and their teachers. For a period of about six months before the shooting began, the students (a real class in a high school in a poor area)started working with Cantet and the technical team on improvisation. Then, the situations thought up by the writers were “acted out” by the class during improvisation sessions, and the screenplay was basically formed accordingly. The other teachers are also genuine, and the various problems discussed and faced were all brought up by the teachers. The children, who really do come from all manner of different backgrounds, really do suffer from these problems.
It is strange to consider that we were all once experts on life in the classroom. Then, the moment we leave, we begin to forget. I have no doubt that Entre Les Murs will jog your memory at some point or another. It is also as accurate and touching a picture of classroom life without being a documentary that can possibly be filmed. But enough from me. Let’s see what the experts have to say…