French kids can act, too

The film “Monsieur Lazhar” opens today at the Magic Lantern. Click here to access to the podcast of the review I recorded for Spokane Public Radio. Or just read the transcript below:

In recent years, we’ve grown accustomed to watching French-language films that tackle, one, the question of contemporary school life and, two, the ongoing disruption of tradition caused by immigration. Think of the 2002 film “To Be and to Have ,” which documents a year in a rural French grade school. Or “The Class, ” a 2008 film based on the experiences of a high-school teacher confronted by the surging emotions played out in his mixed-race, multi-ethnic Parisian classroom.

In that vein, we now have “Monsieur Lazhar,” a French-Canadian film that, on its surface, tells the story of an older teacher from Algeria trying to adapt to the needs and expectations of the Montreal grade-schoolers he is hired to teach. Underneath, though, “Monsieur Lazhar” – written and directed by Quebequois filmmaker Philippe Falardeau – tells a story of grief and how difficult it is for bureaucracies to cope with the fallout following sudden and inexplicable death.

The death in “Monseiur Lazhar” occurs early on when one of the pre-adolescent students, a rambunctious boy named Simon, discovers his teacher hanging in her own classroom. As the students, and the school staff, struggle to understand an act that is, at heart, incomprehensible – nearly, in fact, an act of child abuse – a new teacher – named Bachir Lazhar – shows up in the principal’s office, offering his services. He is an experienced teacher, he says, and he can fill the position in any way the principal needs: part-time, full-time, temporary or whatever. And just like that, he is hired.

But as you would expect, it’s not an entirely smooth transition. Monsieur Lazhar – curiously unaware of contemporary hands-off educational standards – is decidedly old-school, expecting his young students to know the works of Balzac, apt to slap a head to control an unruly student or to clasp an arm around the shoulders of a class favorite. Still, we can see that he has a good heart and, slowly, is just what the class needs to find a way through the healing process – if only the school, the parents and the rules that both embrace, will allow it to happen.

Don’t get me wrong, though. “Monsieur Lazhar” is no “Mr. Holland’s Opus.” For one thing, Felardeau isn’t interested in tying his film up with a neat, Hollywood ending. For another, the film isn’t without its faults. The title character of Falardeau’s film turns out to have a couple of secrets, at least one part of which entails his own grieving process. But while this emotional angst he shares with his students helps tie the overall film together, another secret – one involving his own professional past – overcomplicates Falardeau’s storyline and blurs the movie’s eventual resolution. Don’t school officials even check the CVs of prospective employees?

Quibbling aside, one plot point too many hardly masks the strengths of “Monsieur Lazhar.” The two main students, Simon and his friend/emotional rival Alice, are played by young actors – Émilien Néron and Sophie Nélisse – who are as talented as any child actors I have ever seen. And as the title character, the Algerian-born actor Mohamed Fellag, provides just the right tone of strict compassion his performance requires.

In the end, “Monsieur Lazhar” is a touching, beautifully composed study of the steps needed to handle, and ultimately overcome – no matter your native language – the pain caused by the inevitable demands of life.