Laurent Cantet's Ressources humaines (1999) is, in the best sense possible, a film which has very outspoken political dimensions. The story is about a twenty-something who returns to his home town to join the company for which his father has toiled as a welder for all his life. But while the father works on the shop floor, the son is offered a managerial position in which he is expected to carry out the downsizing of the company and the laying off of workers. Perhaps there are scenes that overdoes it in terms of dramatizing political struggles (which intermingle with familial issues but one could just as well say that even family bonds are politicized) but at least this seems like an honest enough attempt to depict political reactions in a society that, however much a certain ideology tries to conceal it, contains many contradictions. In comparison to the zany apocalyptic choirs that make up the economy pages of most newspapers these days of "crisis", lay-offs appearing like the workings of a natural law, a film like Ressources humaines gives voice to alternative views about work & class society. The film poses important questions about loyalty & sacrifice as well in a very critical manner.
I am glad that Cantet's latest film, The Class (2008), can be viewed in Finnish cinemas, thanks to otherwise crappy, monopolistic, shitwit company Finnkino. Like Ressources humaines, this is a political film, but in a perhaps quieter (not literally, though) and more ambiguous way. Whereas the former film had something of a political message, The Class paves the way for a political perspective on something that is usually not given a political interpretation by discussing issues such as kids being bothered by the prospect of a Career from an early age. Ideas about teaching and discipline, learning and "learning for the future", are constantly questioned.
The Class is a very intense movie with strong scenes that jolt the guts of the audience. Initially, I was worried that the character of Monseur Marin, teacher of rumbustious 13-year old kids in a Parisian suburbian school that is not considered top notch (here, a class perspective is introduced), would stand out as yet another messianic Dead Poets' society teacher figure who convert unruly students to drink the wells of Wisdom. Well, he doesn't. Most of the action takes place in the class room, within the setting of day-to-day conflicts, verbal battles, boring grammar assignments and problem kids. There's no "story" per se. The film has a very documentary feel (after the film we discussed what, if anything, it means to say that an illusion of documentary is created) and basically we are introduced to a class of kids and the interaction between the kids and the teacher along with the worries of the teachers of the school. Interaction, rather than "story" or "narrative progress", is focused on here. For this film, this approach is perfect.
The film is based on a novel written by the actor who partially acts as himself in the movie. Watching the film, I didn't give any thought to that. Basically, the tension of the scenes is created out of the uncertainties & strains of the classroom, the students & the teachers uncessantly exploring the boundaries of their roles. Marine teaches French. In a poignant scene, Monseur Marine teaches the intricate use of the subjunctive. The teacher scribbles on the blackboard while the kids eagerly question the point of the whole thing. Who talk that way, anyway? Is he gay, by the way? In the end, the teacher submits to admit that "it's mostly snobs who use the subjunctive". So, what is first presented as Neutral Facts is suddenly contextualized into a reality in which language and the teaching of it cannot be reduced to lifeless structures.
As a teacher of French, Marine is confronted with the students' thoughts on France and what it is to be or not to be French. Is French=white, is French, the language, a language ruled by a white élite and are the students to submit to a colonialist teaching of language? The teacher seems aware of these things but that does not make anything easier. The students take very different attitudes to this. The explores the theme of racism and national belonging very well (by, for example, portraying a conversation about the African football cup). Indirectly, Cantat connects the world of the school with governmental decisions about immigration: one of the bright kids' mother is sent away from France; the expulsion of one of the problem kids raises questions about whether this will hazard any family member's asylum permit.
The Class is a fantastic film and mostly this is due to its quite bold decisions in concentrating what is shown to the classroom, the teacher's lounge and the boardroom.
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