In a class by itself

"Monsieur Lazhar" isn't your typical teacher-student type film. In fact, it's better than most movies depicting some form of classroom conflict because it doesn't try to dumb down the message or emotionally puppeteer us with overdramatic situations, dialogue or music. Here's how our CineVerse group graded this school-based picture:

THERE HAVE BEEN MANY FILMS ABOUT TEACHERS, SCHOOLS AND STUDENTS. HOW DOES THIS MOVIE APPROACH THIS SUBGENRE DIFFERENTLY AND IN FRESH, UNEXPECTED WAYS?

·       It starts out with a traumatic event; often, the traumatic event in a student/teacher film comes in act 3 or later (think Dead Poets Society)

·       As film critic Marjorie Baumgarten wrote: “This French-Canadian drama and its elegant study of grief, guilt, and recovery goes places that few films dare go. And it does so with an economy of expression that avoids the histrionics and uncomfortable sense of voyeurism that usually accompany such subject matter.” Baumgarten added that the film provides an “intelligent observation of the ways children and adults process grief.”

·       The teacher here is not some saintly model of professorial perfection; he has faults: he has trouble speaking fluent Quebec-preferred French; he’s rather old-fashioned in his approach (consider that he quotes Balzac) and in his structuring (think of his preference for desks in tidy rows); he has emotional scars and past baggage that he brings to the job.

·       The child actors cast as students here do a phenomenal job of acting, almost as if they are real students and not thespians.  

WHAT IMPORTANT THEMES ARE TACKLED IN THIS MOVIE?

·       Grief, guilt and healing

·       Barriers to communication: Lazhar doesn’t speak good French, yet he must get his students to listen and understand.

·       The difficulty in adapting to change

·       Some wounds never fully heal; it’s in our ability to keep ourselves moving forward and focused that we can cope with tragedy and pain.

·       Teachers and school staff have feelings and needs, too, not just students.

·       Film reviewer Paul Byrnes wrote: “(The director) looks at what we have lost in our desire to protect children from abuse by teachers; the price students can pay for having powers they are too young to understand; the blunt stupidity of school systems that value rules over flexibility.”
·       The chrysalis: this is a transformational time for the students, between two teachers (the one who committed suicide and Mr. Lazhar); he represents their chrysalis stage as pupa before they (hopefully) transform into beautiful, mature butterflies.

FILMS THAT REMIND US OF THE EMPEROR’S CLUB:

·       Dead Poet’s Society

·       Mr. Holland’s Opus

·       Goodbye, Mr. Chips

·       To Sir With Love

·       The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie

·       Dangerous Minds

·       Stand and Deliver

·       The Emperor’s Club

OTHER FILMS HELMED BY DIRECTOR PHILIPPE FALARDEAU

·       Congorama (2006)

·       It’s Not Me, I Swear! (2008)

·       The Good Lie (late 2014)