Realism and Debate in Entre Les Murs

Hi people, this is a contribution sent by Claudia. Hope you find it useful. Anahí

March 19th, 2009 by Gautam (taken from http://www.brokenprojector.com/wordpress/?p=82)
In France, school education is “gratuit et compulsaire”- meaning it is free and compulsory. Students are sent to various “levels” of schools according to their academic performance and behavior, resulting in a world where smart kids get to learn and grow with smart kids and the not so smart ones share their classrooms with other under-performers and hope that if they study hard and behave themselves, they will probably get to go to a better school the following year.
This is the setting for the film in question “Entre Les Murs” better known to English audiences as simply “The Class”. The title literally translates into English as “Between the Walls”- a clever title indeed as it signifies the long association that exists between the words “walls” and “classroom” and at the same time brings about the restrictive and claustrophobic nature of being “in between” walls. The premise of the story comes from the semi-autobiographical book written by François Bégaudeau, who rather aptly also takes on the lead role of the French teacher François Marin. The film, like the book follows the teacher’s daily routine at the school (named “Dolto”)- in the classroom and the teacher’s lounge through a whole academic year. Indeed, the camera never leaves the school campus resulting in a concentric irony that while the students are trapped “Between the Walls” of the classroom, the teachers are themselves trapped “Between the Walls” of the school.
Day by day we see the teachers struggle to make sense out of their present situation and try to come up with the “one perfect” way that will apply well to all students in unanimous agreement but we see how futile these attempts are when we follow Monsieur Marin in his racially diverse class and his constant attempts to try and cater to each and every student the best he can. Marin slowly realizes that his classroom is somewhat a miniature France itself- racially diverse, religiously tolerant and connected only by the golden yarn of the French language. This is perhaps the very first time in cinema where an accurate depiction of a racially diverse classroom has been done with such little drama (…) all so diverse and all in the need of separate attention and a separate method of teaching.
The film raises a lot of important questions in the form of the teachers making some tough decisions that they think are morally viable but at the same time we see the students’ disillusionment in the system is only further confirmed with their acts. Marin, though at first seems unlike his colleagues in terms of being able to better communicate with his students, slowly gets himself involved in questionable methods to bring order to his class. Perhaps, it is this moral ambiguity and the level of realism used in the film that bring about the third dimension in vast emboss in this film- it’s not a Freedom Writers (2007) or a Dangerous Minds (1994) both semi-autobiographical accounts of teachers dealing with a racially diverse classroom, but unlike a Hillary Swank or a Michelle Pfeiffer, François Bégaudeau doesn’t end up changing a class that can’t sit together in the same room to a group of individuals who are ready to take a bullet for each other.
On the technical side, the film really shines. Set to the rich, warm palettes of the Parisian sun and with the skillful use of the hand-held camera (a rare skill, often put to bad use by inexperienced cinematographers simply aping their role-models), the film rides on at its own pace over a tolerable time frame of just over two hours. One only notices at the end credits, that there is not a single instance of music in the film and perhaps certain unseasoned audiences may even perceive this film as a documentary. And to an extent, it really is documentary. All the actors playing the students in the film are students of the school themselves and playing roles with the same name as themselves- save for Khoumba and Soulaiman- both names and stories manufactured especially for the film to create certain important plot points in the film.
In the end, one can only debate on how deep or how shallow the film is but it is this very fact that people are sitting around their dinner tables and debating the validity of this film is what makes it a significant film.
“Entre Les Murs” won the prestigious Palmd’Or at the 61st Cannes FilmFestival (2008).

TOM SAWYER by Mark Twain

Did you know that Mark Twain's real name was Samuel Clement?And that this pseudonym was taken from the shout that the sounding lines leave during the navigation in the Misissipi River in order to measure two metres deep? Tom Sawyer is his most well known book ,in which he writes not only a boy's startling image but also life ,customs and habits as regards the inhabitants that lived in the second half of the 17 th century.The admirable touches of humour,tenderness and realism make of this novel one of the most lovely ones for all ages ,children and adults.Tom ,the brilliant main character,an adventurous boy, a kind of pseud-hero,cheeky and smart, will do that you were moved to tears.

Sky

“I have a dream” (by Martin Luther King)

Dreams are dreams... but Dr. King´s one became real. Everything began in the late golden ´50s when Martin Luther King and a group of AfricanAmerican people decided to stop white-supremacy in USA. Since then, they fought hard against racial discrimination and for their civil rights. After many difficulties and achievements he called for a march to Washington and delivered his famous speech “I have a dream” considered as the turning point of the fight.

One summer day in 1963 King´s words of hope and encouragement echoed stronger than ever. They had the aim to support the proposed civil rights legislation through a series of non-violent actions. Therefore, while claiming dignity and discipline, he asked his people to be creative during protests by avoiding the use of physical violence. What is more, he explained that white people were not the enemy –in fact many of them were taking part of the march.

It was very clear for King that the American Dream had left black people appart. The rights of Life, Liberty and the pursuit of happiness for the Negro community had been systematically violated throughout two centuries. Thus, since he considered the Nation owed them those rights, King asked for “the cash of their check”. In King´s words both the USA Constitution and the Declaration of Independence were supposed to guarantee such inalienable rights for everyone for human beings are created equal by God. However, the Negroes were not free.

In spite of many frustrations and triumphs King´s speech displayed faithfully the spirit of black people fighting. It was a glorious day, a moment of hope for justice, brotherhood between black and white people, and peace for everyone. And as if he were foreseeing the future, it was “a beginning, not an end”.

Lorna

Smile!

Do you have to smile at clients at work? According to a BBC article, the people working for a rail firm do have to. This firm has recently introduced a computarised system to check on its staff`s faces. In order to improve service to customers, a smile scanner will measure the smile`s curvature, so the staff should smile broadly. The system will be operating in around 15 Tokyo stations, and those employees who don`t smile will be advised to look less serious and more friendly. In this way, rail firm owners will expect a high increase in their passengers` satisfaction with the service.

SPARKLING

An anecdote

Last day, I had to teach my students some characteristics related to reptiles. Of course, I had to read about them just in case. When the class started, they tried to be curious in discovering new information and they shared the material they had brought. Some minutes later, one group started the project about snakes and they wanted to know all sorts of snakes, if they are dangerous, or if they live all over the world. I told them, that snakes are very easy to recognize as they have long and thin bodies, and no arms or legs. They were totally enthutistic with the process of the class and they found it completly different, because they realized that they could work together in a relaxing way. If we think that they are only six years old, we will probably undestand that anger for learning. To sum up, my students showed me the pleasure of learning from others.

Miss Squirrel

Violence at schools! Boy arrested over school stabbing

This piece of news is about violence inside schools. This problem is occurring all over the world. Students` behaviour is getting worse day by day. They are out of control. The reason is that they are more violent, rude and aggressive, due to the games they play and the programs they watch.
This is a serious problem that has to be taken into account and try to find a solution as soon as we can.
Nowadays, there is no difference between boys and girls. If there is any problem with a classmate, they work it out fighting and if there is any problem with a teacher, they also work it out in the same way.
Moreover some students upload their videos` fights on websites.
Lately, on our country, there have been some violent situations in which teachers have been hit by students and also by students` mothers. There is no control at schools, so students sometimes have in their bags dangerous elements such as knives, guns and other objects that can hurt people.
Last year there was a case, in which a student punched his teacher after school. The solution for this was that he was not able to go to school for three days, as a result of his violent behaviour he was the center of attention for all the news and some TV programmes.
I wish this matter of violence could have a solution as soon as possible.
What do you think about? Do you have any solution or proposal that you want to share?

Anush

Unstoppable Rise of English!

I read an article, which refers to the rise of English among other languages. This situation takes place in Africa, where just over half of fifty-two countries speak French. Due to the increase in the use of English, French is spoken only in France, some parts of West Africa, parts of Canada and Switzerland.
Because of globalization and other circumstances English has emerged as a backbone for growth and development, not only in the region but also around the globe.
As France cares more about its language, it has waged a long and expensive campaign to guarantee the survival of a French- speaking zone in central and West Africa.
Knowledge of both English and French is required for University entrance, but statistics say that only three percent of the population can speak English fluently.
Is also reflects that Rwandans speak kinvarwanda and they have no need for a “lingua franca” to communicate among themselves.
And it says that only those going into higher education or working with foreigners need any other language at all, so only eight percent of Rwandans speak fluent French after all this time.

Anush