The Class

PG-13

Released Dec 19, 2008

2h 9m

Drama

List

95%

Tomatometer

161 Reviews

82%

Audience Score

10,000+ Ratings

Francois Marin (François Bégaudeau) is a French language and literature teacher at an inner-city Paris high school. As the new school year begins, he introduces himself to his new class and begins the arduous process of reaching out to each of them. Marin encounters his share of problem students, teen violence, ethnic tensions between classmates and education barriers within the group, all of which test his patience and -- more importantly -- his resolve as an educator.

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Critics Consensus

Energetic and bright, this hybrid of documentary style and dramatic plotting looks at the present and future of France through the interactions of a teacher and his students in an inner city high school.

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Deborah Ross

The Spectator

This is not an 'inspirational teacher' movie, but it is a small, quiet inspiration.

Aug 29, 2018

Full Review

Ben Kenigsberg

Time Out

Rated: 4/5

Nov 17, 2011

Full Review

Jonathan F. Richards

Film.com

But ultimately it's a fascinating, sometimes exhilarating movie that seems to make a genuine contact with the classroom, and shows us an educational system struggling, and managing, to survive.

Aug 23, 2009

Full Review

Farah Cheded

A Good Movie To Watch

The two-hour-plus runtime... breezes past thanks to its sheer unrelenting energy.

Aug 18, 2023

Full Review

Richard Propes

TheIndependentCritic.com

Winner of the Palme d'Or at Cannes 2008.

Rated: 3.5/4.0

Sep 5, 2020

Full Review

Daniel Barnes

Dare Daniel

The film leaps through the school year in sudden blinks, with the opportunity for Beagaudeau to reach these kids becoming as ungraspable as melting snow.

Rated: 4/5

Feb 8, 2020

Full Review

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Audience Member

A surprisingly gripping picture given that it just follows a French class full of teenagers and their teachers. France has a fascinating inner city clash of cultures that is brilliantly portrayed and teased out in this film. There are a few real shocks thrown in for good measure. Really enjoyed this drama and definitely recommend. Pure discourse and battle of wits between the kids and the teacher.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

01/28/23

Full Review

isla s

This is a fairly thought provoking film about young adolescents in a multi-cultural school setting. There are different perspectives shown via people with different personalities, although most of them are quite challenging for the teacher to engage with. I thought the performances seemed quite realistic and I suppose it's a good platform for discussing the themes it covers, including pupil peer pressure/bravado, tolerance, acceptance and how teachers respond to the way pupils 'act out'. There's discussion of the balance between positive encouragement for good behaviour versus punishment for negative behaviour. It may make you see things from other peoples perspectives and so I think it's a good film but it may seem a bit dull for some perhaps - its got a reasonably slow plot pace and I'd suggest its perhaps good as a film to discuss afterwards, rather than an entirely entertaining and 'fun' film as such but it has a pretty solid feel to it, so I'd recommend it, although it won't be for everyone.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Started out conventionally like most classroom narratives with progressive humbling till it slowly diverts to something somewhat more realistic with conflicting irrationality and empathetic provocation that somehow questions the said realism when thinking how things should've been handled better. Aside from the troublesome nature lacking sensible, wholesomely helpful connective heft, it brews a nostalgic atmosphere within a social commentary docudrama hybrid issuing a statement that classroom narratives tend to address through sophisticated performances albeit towards deafly disconnected, non-redemptive receptions under elliptical obscurity. (B)

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/17/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Perfeito, muito realista, apesar de se passar entre os muros numa escola francesa, se torna um retrato da educação nos países subdesenvolvidos, especialmente me escolas públicas, interessante observar na periferia da França o grande número de imigrantes, o filme praticamente gira em torno deles, em especial sobre serem ou não franceses, e a enorme dificuldade dos professores ante a rebeldia cada vê mais latente de nossos adolescentes, por vezes desinteressados e destrutivos, retrato esplendido...

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

02/12/23

Full Review

William L

It's like Stand and Deliver, but the teachers have problems too. The Class brings to mind quite a few relatively conventional classroom films of years prior; there are always kids from rough backgrounds that have never been given the right opportunities to succeed. Where Laurent Cantet's Palme d'Or-winning, somewhat autobiographical depiction of this classic setting differs from others is in its relative amorality, particularly in the range of circumstances that students find themselves in and especially in the teachers' responses to problem students. Many are totally burned out, others remain idealistic, and the majority have seen too many to treat them all with individual attention; some students absolutely slip through the cracks due to sheer numbers or bureaucracy, whilee some educators dedicate the same level of interest to the economic viability of a new coffee machine that they do to their pupils' wellbeing. Bégaudeau's M. Marin is a distinct character as a result of this treatment, dedicated to his students but intermittently misunderstood by them and often subject to his own emotional outbursts when confronting subjects that he feels passionately about. It's a story about good intentions being weighed down by a system not entirely capable of supporting those that it needs to, but too much of it seems familiar to feel totally fresh. (3/5)

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

08/05/21

Full Review

Audience Member

<p>My first experience watching <em>The Class</em> (2008) was during its initial theatrical UK release back in 2008. Taken to the cinema as a 12-year old, it was my first foray into French cinema and an experience I remember fondly. The emotional resonance of shock from the difficult final conversation between François and Henriette had stuck with me over the last 9 years, but I chose to rewatch the film as I struggled to recall the plot or major conflicts.</p>   <p><em>The Class </em>is what it says on the tin - the majority of time is spent inside of François' classroom and explores how a teacher navigates his boisterous group of French students. Through this teacher-student dynamic, the film depicts a breadth of educational issues and outlines some specific difficulties within Paris' 20th Arrondissement. The result is a thoroughly thought-provoking examination of macro-educational issues such as student discipline and the role of parents in education. Some reviews have criticised how the narrative fails to convey a resolution, in that it expertly demonstrates inherent issues but never goes a step further than leaving lingering questions. However, I believe that the film does more than paint a damning portrait of the educational system. François demonstrates the importance of the continual effort to impact the lives of students - even in the face of imperfection.</p>   <p>The film offers lingering shots of François in thought, contemplating how best he can teach his disruptive class of students. In an ideal world François would likely be a well-natured likeable teacher, yet, he realises he needs to be strict to keep his students in line and focused. It's clear being authoritative isn't natural to him yet something that he believes he must maintain, this struggle between being authoritative and vulnerable impressively explored through his relationship with Esmerelda and other. A balancing act that permeates across all walks of life. </p>   <p>There is scrutiny on every mistake François makes. There are multiple occasions where François is in the wrong (as it is pointed out by his students), yet his constant focus on trying to right his wrongs is admirable. Ultimately, the film offers enough glimpses of little personal wins for his students that demonstrate the impact he makes in the classroom. Khoumba's behaviour is markedly better after the <em>almost-</em>private admonishing from François in the first half of the movie. Similarly, while the final classroom conversation explores Henriette's failure to learn, it shouldn't gloss over the rest of the respective educational progress in the class, especially with the more difficult students in his class. This is an imperfect conclusion to his school year, but François is an imperfect character working in a flawed school system. As shown from the final scene of students and teachers playing football together, regardless of great failures or pushbacks, François will not give up in his efforts to drive change. This on-screen determination makes <em>The Class </em>more than a question mark of a movie.</p>

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/18/23

Full Review

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Laurent Cantet

Director

François Bégaudeau

François

Esmeralda Ouertani

Esmeralda

Rachel Regulier

Khoumba

Franck Keita

Souleymane

Wei Huang

Wei

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Synopsis

Francois Marin (François Bégaudeau) is a French language and literature teacher at an inner-city Paris high school. As the new school year begins, he introduces himself to his new class and begins the arduous process of reaching out to each of them. Marin encounters his share of problem students, teen violence, ethnic tensions between classmates and education barriers within the group, all of which test his patience and -- more importantly -- his resolve as an educator.

Director: Laurent Cantet
Screenwriter: François Bégaudeau, Robin Campillo, Laurent Cantet
Distributor: Sony Pictures Classics
Production Co: Haut et Court, France 2 Cinéma
Rating: PG-13 (Language)
Genre: Drama
Original Language: French (France)
Release Date (Theaters): Dec 19, 2008, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Apr 16, 2012
Box Office (Gross USA): $3.8M
Runtime: 2h 9m

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