The Class (2008)
94%RT Audience Score: 91%
Awards & Nominations: NA
Energetic and bright, this hybrid of documentary style and dramatic plotting looks at the present and future of France through the interactions of a teacher and his students in an inner city high school.
The Class is like a rollercoaster ride through the ups and downs of a school year. It’s not your typical feel-good teacher movie, but it’s still inspiring in its own way. The film takes you on a journey through the struggles of the educational system and the challenges faced by both teachers and students. It’s a fascinating and authentic experience that will leave you thinking about the issues it raises long after the credits roll. Plus, it won the Palme d’Or at Cannes, so you know it’s gotta be good!
Production Company(ies)
Distributor
Sony Pictures Classics
Release Type
Filming Location(s)
MPAA / Certificate
TV-G
Year of Release
2008
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:Dolby
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Aspect ratio:NA
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Runtime:2h 9m
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Language(s):
-
Country of origin:United States
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Dec 19, 2008 Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Aug 11, 2009
Genre(s)
Drama
Keyword(s)
starring François Bégaudeau, directed by Laurent Cantet, written by François Bégaudeau, Robin Campillo, Laurent Cantet, drama, box office performance $3.8M, critic reviews, reviewed by Deborah Ross, Ben Kenigsberg, Jonathan F Richards, Leo Goldsmith, J R Jones, Cosmo Landesman, Richard Propes, Daniel Barnes, Felicia Feaster, PJ Nabarro, Patrick Nabarro, produced by Carole Scotta, Caroline Benjo, Barbara Letellier, Simon Arnal, PG-13, inner-city high school, teacher, students, education barriers, teen violence, ethnic tensions, multicultural diversity, documentary style, French language, literature teacher, Francois Marin, Esmeralda Ouertani, Rachel Regulier, Franck Keita, Wei Huang, Agame Malembo-Emene, Sony Pictures Classics, 2h 9m, Cannes Film Festival, Palme d’Or winner
Worldwide gross: $29,303,505
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): NA
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): NA
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): NA
US/Canada gross: $3,766,810
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada opening weekend:
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): NA
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): NA
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): NA
Production budget ranking: NA
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
ROI to date (est.): NA
ROI ranking: NA
Esmeralda Ouertani – Esmeralda
Rachel Regulier – Khoumba
Franck Keita – Souleymane
Wei Huang – Wei
Agame Malembo-Emene – self
Director(s)
Laurent Cantet
Writer(s)
François Bégaudeau, Robin Campillo, Laurent Cantet
Producer(s)
Carole Scotta, Caroline Benjo, Barbara Letellier, Simon Arnal
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
NA
Academy Awards
All Critics (161) | Top Critics (64) | Fresh (153) | Rotten (8)
This is not an ‘inspirational teacher’ movie, but it is a small, quiet inspiration.
August 29, 2018
Deborah Ross
The Spectator
TOP CRITIC
November 17, 2011 | Rating: 4/5
Ben Kenigsberg
Time Out
TOP CRITIC
But ultimately it’s a fascinating, sometimes exhilarating movie that seems to make a genuine contact with the classroom, and shows us an educational system struggling, and managing, to survive.
August 23, 2009
Jonathan F. Richards
Film.com
TOP CRITIC
Cantet’s film lulls the spectator into the rhythms of the everyday reality of school, belying a very carefully coordinated narrative structure that only becomes apparent in its final act.
August 8, 2009
Leo Goldsmith
indieWire
TOP CRITIC
Most impressive, Cantet tracks the racial and ethnic resentments that simmer beneath the classroom discussions but become harder to quell when the parents get involved.
March 13, 2009
J. R. Jones
Chicago Reader
TOP CRITIC
The film raises important questions about learning, authority and discipline, and is honest enough to admit that it doesn’t really have any answers.
March 6, 2009 | Rating: 4/5
Cosmo Landesman
Times (UK)
TOP CRITIC
Winner of the Palme d’Or at Cannes 2008.
September 5, 2020 | Rating: 3.5/4.0
Richard Propes
TheIndependentCritic.com
The film leaps through the school year in sudden blinks, with the opportunity for Beagaudeau to reach these kids becoming as ungraspable as melting snow.
February 8, 2020 | Rating: 4/5
Daniel Barnes
Dare Daniel
Despite a noble desire to plumb the real racial, class, and generational politics of a contemporary classroom, The Class may strike some as unbearably prolonged, and at times, stagnant exercise.
January 27, 2020
Felicia Feaster
Charleston City Paper
The Class is a riveting, authentic experience.
October 3, 2019 | Rating: 4.5/5
David Harris
Spectrum Culture
There’s something so inherently truthful and universal about what the film shows, and, if anything, its success is in its seeming lack of rhetoric and polemicising.
January 27, 2019 | Rating: 4/5
PJ Nabarro
Patrick Nabarro
There are lessons to be learned in The Class, but its makers aren’t clear enough on what they are.
December 11, 2018 | Rating: 3/4
Kelly Jane Torrance
Washington Times…
Plot
A French language and literature teacher at an inner-city Paris high school navigates the challenges of reaching out to his diverse students, including ethnic tensions and education barriers, in the drama film “The Class.”
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
The cast and crew of The Class includes real-life teacher and author François Bégaudeau, who wrote the novel on which the film is based and also stars as himself in the lead role.
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