THE CLASS — CANNES 2008

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"The Class" ("Entre les murs") proves to be worthy of its Palme d’Or win in Cannes, under the rigorous attention of director Laurent Cantet who spent a year of improvisation preparation before adapting it to the film’s semi-improvised shoot.

Real-life Parisian junior high school teacher Francois Begaudeau plays himself in the adaptation of his nonfiction novel about his experiences as teacher in modern-day Paris.

The setting is inside a classroom of 25 multi-cultural students who are at once curious and rebellious under Begaudeau’s effortless and sincere teaching technique that responds to the groups’ specific needs.

The performances from its first-time actors are fantastic, and Laurent exerts a calm patience over the film’s mainly interior settings, and shows a strong empathy for intrinsic dramatic rhythms of a loaded social setting.

Primarily, the film is a candid macro/micro look at France’s educational system as well at the cultural complexity it contains.

At the film’s post-screening press conference, Laurent Cantet described how the film will stir a common French debate about their schools serving the fundamentals of educational or in encouraging students to discover themselves.

"The Class" is a magnificent cinematic triumph.

Rated PG-13. 123 mins.