Laurent Cantet's "The Class" ("Entre les murs")

TB suggested watching this move last night, and I am glad we made the trek to the Angelika. School drama in a French suburb, with imperfect teacher and trying charges. What does it mean to be French? The movie is based on an autobiographical novel, Entre les murs, by François Bégaudeau, who plays himself in the movie filmed with three HD video cameras. The junior high students and the school staff all come from the same school. Their acting is so natural that they make Sean Penn look artsy in Milk. The talk has the unpredictability and indirection of real speech. Manhola Dargis has a good review of the movie.

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