The Class (2008)
7/10
To Sir, without Love
14 August 2009
During the school year in a public school in the periphery of Paris, the teacher and member of the disciplinary committee François Marin (François Bégaudeau) gives French lessons to a heterogeneous group of racially mixed students between thirteen and fifteen years old. There are good students, but there also others without discipline and interest in the classes. During a meeting with the evaluation committee formed by the school teachers, the student representatives Esmeralda (Esmeralda Ouertani) and Louise (Louise Grinberg) grin all the time without any participation in the discussion; however, on the next morning, they gossip to their schoolmates the subjects of the meeting. The Malian bad student Souleymane (Franck Keïta) offends François and accidentally hits the student Khoumba (Rachel Regulier) with his bag, hurting her face. François reports the incident to the principal and Souleymane has to face the fearing the disciplinary committee.

"Entre les Murs" is another good movie that exposes the relationship of teachers and their students in a public school, this time in the boundary of Paris. This theme is engaging and has produced many good movies, highlighting the classic "To Sir, with Love", "Class of 1984" and "Dangerous Minds". However, "Entre les Murs" succeeds in the pretension of exposing a sample of modern France, for example with poor immigrants from the former French colonies whose families can not even speak French language or students without any perspective in adult life. The result is a tense and crude low-budget theatrical movie, supported by magnificent performances and with an ending without any redemption or hope. My vote is seven.

Note: "Mali is a country of western Africa. The site of several powerful states, including the Mali (flourished 14th century) and the Songhai (flourished 15th-16th centuries), Mali became part of French West Africa in the 19th century and achieved independence in 1960. Bamako is the capital and the largest city".

Title (Brazil): "Entre os Muros da Escola" ("Within the Walls of the School")
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