Laurent Cantet's The Class was a surprise winner of the Palme d'Or at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival and opens this year's New York Film Festival. Based on the novel by Francois Begaudeau, Cantet's gritty feature film follows a year inside the classroom of one beleaguered public school teacher, played by none other than the real life Francois Begaudeau, in an urban middle school in Paris.
Francois Martin (Begaudeau) is a devoted, often unconventional teacher. He addresses his students, a diverse, tough talking, multicultural mix of adolescents, as near equals. From the start, however, it's clear that this good guy will eventually be forced to pay for his earnest approach. Retribution comes in the form of Esmeralda (Esmeralda Ouertani), an immensely unlikeable, smart-alecky student. If I could have reached out and slapped her from my seat in the theater, I might have.
While The Class is not a documentary, Cantet has created a film so life-like that it seems as if the filmmaker has captured actual footage of a real classroom. The students in the film are non-actors; these kids seem real because they are real -- and they give terrific performances. Cantet shaped each scene by allowing his cast to improvise before nailing down a final script. The resulting dialogue between students and teacher is always convincing, occasionally funny, and, for the most part, unremittingly tense.
Pity the future of public education when I say that Cantet's well-intentioned, accomplished film is a trial to watch. Martin's spirit is slowly broken down class after grueling class, where little teaching is actually accomplished, and further eroded in recurring, confrontational faculty meetings. The compassion and skill that went into the making of The Class is undeniable, but I felt inordinately grateful for the bell, ready to bolt from the theater the moment the credits began to roll.
