The Class (2008)

It's a little strange that I should see this film in 2019. The last time I heard anyone talk about it was a decade ago, when it was nominated for Best Foreign Film at the Academy Awards. Mainly I got intrigued by the preview, but to wait this long, I must have also felt some reluctance.

It certainly doesn't boast an original premise: François Marin (François Bégaudeau) teaches ninth-grade French in a Parisian school with an all-White staff and a mostly non-White, foreign-born student body, about half of whom Marin already knows from a previous year. This is based on Bégaudeau's semi-autobiography. (Most of the cast members use their real first names.)

I'm undecided on how important the racial element is. It's clear that Marin has trouble connecting with the students, sometimes for cultural reasons such as the fine points of language or names. That said, no one brings up race explicitly. Nationality has more to do with it, especially in the case of one troubled boy, Souleymane, who might just have to return to Mali if expelled.

For the most part, I see a classroom full of teens sorely (tho perhaps typically) in need of discipline. Khoumba, for instance, flatly refuses to read an excerpt of The Diary of Anne Frank in class, claiming that it has nothing to do with her and accusing Marin of picking on her simply because he asked her first. Marin privately notes that she wasn't like this last year, and we never do find out what changed her.

That said, the kids aren't the only ones at fault. You can bet the school's doing something wrong if it averages two disciplinary hearings a month, every one of which leads to an expulsion. Marin usually defends a more merciful approach, but as the year wears on, even he makes some decidedly harsh if not unprofessional moves. Maybe he's lost patience.

Possibly the best thing about this movie is the way it let the young actors play around with the script. Extras on the DVD include a lot of fitting dialog if not whole scenes that didn't make the final cut. This may drive the story a little further from the truth of Bégaudeau's life, but it also ups our sense of authenticity.

Alas, realism in entertainment is a two-edged sword. There isn't much of an overarching plot. Khoumba's arc isn't the only part lacking in resolution. And much as he tries, Marin doesn't enjoy the usual cinematic status of influential teacher; even in the end, he's just barely keeping the class together, let alone duly educated. I guess Bégaudeau isn't a great teacher either, because I fail to discern a lesson for the viewers beyond "This situation kinda sucks."

I find TC decent for its 128 minutes, but it offers only so much to keep the mind and heart stirred without mere annoyance. I'm glad Departures won that year.