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The Class

Frankreich 2008 - mit François Bégaudeau und französischen Schülern ...

Filminfo

Produktionsland:Frankreich 2008
Webseite:www.dieklasse-film.de
Taking a realistic look inside classrooms at a school in the middle of a social hotspot is an undertaking that could very easily have become a pedagogical lesson. But with the necessary courage to call a spade a spade on the problems that can arise in such a class over the course of a school year, and with sufficient knowledge to illuminate the various sides of those problems, director Laurent Cantet's adaptation of the successful novel "The Class" has created an impressive drama that didn't win the Palme d'Or at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival for nothing. Young teacher François (François Bégaudeau) takes over a class of 14- to 15-year-old students made up primarily of immigrant children. The many different cultures that clash here, the frustration and anger that lie dormant in many of the children, make the small microcosm of the class a social flashpoint. And yet François has high ambitions: he wants to teach his students not only the prescribed subject matter, but also social values, respect and tolerance. Again and again he encounters resistance from the students and in one case in particular he is pushed to his own limits. But François does not give up: instead of repeatedly confronting the students with their weaknesses, he wants to encourage their strengths and thus reduce problems and aggression. But with his often unconventional methods, François does not always meet with approval... Author François Bégaudeau, who has also taken on the leading role in the film adaptation of his novel, knows exactly what he is writing about. After all, François Bégaudeau is a teacher himself, and he has drawn on his own experiences in the acclaimed book. Refreshingly uninhibited, honest, critical and yet without a pedagogical pointing finger, and with a pleasant pinch of humour, he tells of the difficulties, the enormous frustration, but also of the positive aspects of teaching and learning. The fact that this seems absolutely authentic, not only in the book but also in the film, is not only due to Bégaudeau's participation, but also to the fact that all the roles in the classroom were cast with real students, all amateur actors, who acted without a fixed script. The result is a film that sometimes almost seems documentary, which sometimes moves, sometimes amuses and then again makes extremely angry. It is made clear to the viewer what problems many children have to deal with, especially in the big cities, what fears they are confronted with every day, but also how mercilessly some students make their teachers' lives hell. The film raises many unpleasant questions, but also shows, without wanting to be too cautionary, that in many cases it doesn't take that much work at all to make everyone's lives significantly easier. There is no kitsch or pathos, and nothing is really talked up. There are just problem cases that cannot be solved or that are tackled in the wrong way. But the blame is not to be placed solely on the teachers, nor solely on the students. Despite the difficult and sometimes disillusioning subject matter, the film does not come across as completely negative, but also gives hope for improvement and even conjures up a smile on the faces of the viewers once in a while, which is a real feat that has been rewarded with several film awards. Those who also place high value on reality in cinema are guaranteed to be thrilled by "The Class" with its high degree of authenticity. But those who tend to use films to escape reality will feel rather uncomfortable in François's classroom. Original title: Entre les Murs Directed by Laurent Cantet Length: approx. 128 min. FSK: o. Al.

Ein Artikel von Frankfurt-Tipp