The Class

It is about the power struggle between a teacher who wants to do good and students who disagree about what "good" is. The film is so fair that neither side is seen as right, and both seem trapped by futility.

The debuting Bégaudeau ably captures the enthusiasm and discomfort of an idealist.

With an eye to Paris' turbulent multiracial suburbs, the film simply lays out the difficulties not only in education, but also with forging any kind of unified French identity.

The kinetic and perceptive realism of The Class puts to shame the entire field of schoolroom dramas and makes the movie seem more like an acutely observed Frederick Wiseman documentary than any up-the-down-staircase melodrama.

...en ruggigt stark skildring av grupptrycket, av lärare som väljer att inte se, av en verklighet som är alldeles för vanlig.