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Synopsis:
Winner
of the Palme d'Or at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival, master
French director Laurent Cantet's THE CLASS is an absorbing
journey into a multicultural high school in Paris over the
course of a school year. Francois Begaudeau - an actual
teacher and the author upon whose work the film was based -
is utterly convincing as Francois, an openminded teacher in
charge of a classroom of youngsters from a wide variety of
backgrounds. Of course, the mere fact that he's older and in
a position of authority causes his students to challenge him
on many occasions. Francois is stuck in the middle. In the
teacher conferences, he butts heads with the harsher adults
who don't appear to have any sympathy for their students. In
class, his attempts to be lenient and understanding are
somehow misinterpreted and he finds himself arguing with the
kids that he so clearly wants to help. As the school year
progresses, tensions rise, until Francois finds himself in a
position he never imagined he'd be in. Unlike his more
formally written early films like HUMAN RESOURCES and TIME
OUT, Cantet proves that he has an ability to work in a more
improvisational manner. Shooting on HD and working with a
cast of young non-actors, he allows THE CLASS to breathe,
resulting in a fictional drama that has the spirit and
energy of a documentary. His startlingly assured ensemble
brings the new, culturally diverse France of the early 21st
century to striking life.
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