2009 in Review: The Best Films... Number 1

THE CLASS
Directed by Laurent Cantet

I’ve said before that 2009 wasn’t a brilliant year for cinema. There’s a fantastic top 5, and then the films from 14-6 are very close to each other. The standout number 1, though, was THE CLASS, Laurent Cantet’s film adaptation of Francois Begaudeau’s novel. Begaudeau plays the character based on himself, Francois Marin, a teacher in an inner-city Paris school.

Cantet’s film throws Begaudeau into a classroom with a group of non-professional actors, and films the results. The film is scripted, but feels alive due to the authentic dynamic between teacher and students. The plot focuses on Marin’s struggles with a number of students, including Souleymane, a teenager of Malian descent, who has been threatened (by his father) with his return to Africa if he is excluded from his school.

Certainly Begaudeau and Cantet are interested in the multi-cultured nature of inner-city French schools. The racial tensions are always present in the film, but never allowed to unbalance it. Rather what the film seems to be about is the nature of what it takes to be a teacher. As human beings we are encouraged to admit our fallibility, and the importance of questioning a system. A good teacher gets this across to their students – it’s one of the most important lessons in life. How then, should such a teacher balance that with the pedagogical nature of the education system?

This is the question at the heart of the film, and it’s one that Cantet and Begaudeau never presume to be able to know how to answer. It presents far from a rosy picture of what a teacher’s life is, yet still gives an insight into the moments of joy that reaching previously ‘difficult’ students can bring. It’s an affirming and powerful film, a testament to honesty and faith in people over systems. It’s also the best film of the year.