The Class

2008 Drama

François is a tough but fair teacher working in one of France's toughest schools, and his honest demeanor in the classroom has made him a great success with the students. But this year things are different, because when the students begin to challenge his methods François will find his classroom ethics put to the ultimate test. François Bégaudeau stars in director Laurent Cantet's entry into the 2008 Cannes Film Festival.

Director: Laurent Cantet

Starring: François Bégaudeau, Wei Huang, Esméralda Ouertani, Franck Keïta

 30 Reviews  22 Awards

Reviews

  • The movie is bursting with life, energy, fears, frustrations and the quick laughter of a classroom hungry for relief.

    Roger Ebert - The Chicago Sun-Times

    19 January 2013

  • In a class by itself.

    Lisa Schwarzbaum - Entertainment Weekly

    19 January 2013

  • The Class is clearly a microcosm of contemporary France, beset by social and economic tensions. More than that, though, it's a saga of education's struggles in many parts of the modern world. If only the film were pure fiction.

    Joe Morgenstern - The Wall Street Journal

    19 January 2013

  • The Class is not just the best film released thus far this year. It may be the most gripping.

    - The Washington Post

    19 January 2013

  • I was much more disheartened leaving the movie the first time I saw it than I was the second. Its richness resides in its apparent objectivity. Without sacrificing a sense of hope, Cantet suggests that the school system is just like a certain vexing grammatical tense: imperfect but still fighting against irrelevance.

    Wesley Morris - The Boston Globe

    19 January 2013

Awards

  • Best Foreign Language Film of the Year

    Academy Awards (2009)

     

  • Best Foreign Film

    Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences of Argentina (2009)

  • Best Foreign Film, Not in the Spanish Language (Mejor Película Extranjera)

    Argentinean Film Critics Association Awards (2010)

  • Best Non-American Film (Bedste ikke-amerikanske film)

    Bodil Awards (2010)

     

  • Laurent Cantet

    Cannes Film Festival (2008)

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