The Class

Aspiring teachers should give this film a wide berth if they don't want to be unutterably depressed about their chosen profession. Lessons are an endless battle of wills and the teachers aren't always victorious. Pointing out that 15 minutes of every lesson are lost while everyone settles down merely leads to yet more wasted time as pupils argue abouth whether lessons actually run an hour or less. There are endless debates about the most seemingly inocuous matters: the choice of name used in a grammar exercise, being asked to read aloud. What's surprising is that we don't see more frustrated outbursts by the teachers. there's one impressive meltdown in the staff room, but mostly it's a war of attrition. Small victories are almost immediately overturned. Not that the pupils are monotonously predictable. Esmeralda, class rep and all-round loudmouth, wants to be a policewoman; Souleymane, the main disruptive influence, actually engages with the self-portrait project. This is partly what makes the classroom so volatile. Khoumba can suddenly become insolent and uncooperative for no apparent reason and then swing back to her former attitude with no warning. On the other hand Wey maintains his cheerful enthusiasm despite his lack of French and is clearly on the path to being a star student. One mother complains that the teachers don't push the more gifted students hard enough, but it's clear that in the circumstances that is impossible. By the end of the school year, most of the class feel that they've learned something (though interestingly not in French), but depressingly, one girl admits to the teacher that she's understood nothing, while Souleymane has finally been expelled. It's not an optimistic picture of the education system ...