THE CLASS — ★★★1/2 — Francois Begaudeau, Franck Keita, Rachel Regulier, in French, with English subtitles; rated PG-13 (slurs, profanity, vulgarity, violence); Broadway Centre
The idea behind "The Class" is nothing new.
In fact, it's just the latest drama to explore the teacher-student dynamic — in the same way that such memorable films as "Blackboard Jungle" (1955), "To Sir, With Love" (1967), "Dangerous Minds" (1995) and most recently, "Freedom Writers" (2007) — already did.
But this French import goes farther than those films, following a teacher and his students through almost an entire school year.
Admittedly, that might make the drama sound a bit dry, but it's complex and fascinating. It also has a real ring of truth to it.
That's because one of its creators is Francois Begaudeau, a French teacher and writer who wrote a book ("Entre les murs," or "Between the Walls") about his experiences teaching high school classes in a racially and ethnically mixed Parisian neighborhood.
This slightly fictionalized version of events casts Begaudeau as Francois Marin, who's trying to teach French to immigrants from as far away as China, Africa and the Middle East.
While most of Francois' students are doing well, he has his hands full with a few of them — especially Souleymane (Franck Keita), a Malian teen who seems unmotivated and is a classroom disruption.
Francois still believes Souleymane can change his ways. But in the meantime, the determined educator has to endure teacher meetings, parent-teacher conferences and a disciplinary hearing after he has some heated words with two of his students (Esmeralda Ouertani and Laura Baquela).
That ruckus turn into a somewhat violent incident that also threatens Souleymane's academic career.
Some might question co-screenwriter Begaudeau and co-screenwriter/director Laurent Cantet's decision to shoot this in a docudrama style. They also use some of Begaudeau's real-life students as cast members.
But most — if not all — of the actors are assured in their performances.
And it's interesting that the film is not entirely sympathetic to Francois, who's shown as impatient and temperamental — as are some of his fellow students. Of course, some of the students are shown to be annoyingly bratty and insolent.
"The Class" is rated PG-13 and features slurs and derogatory language based on race, nationality, ethnicity and sexual orientation, scattered strong profanity, some vulgar and suggestive language, and a scene of classroom violence (a brief scuffle). Running time: 129 minutes.
E-mail: jeff@desnews.com