'The Class' hits all the right notes

Newsday (MCT) - With the intimacy of a documentary and the tense pacing of a drama, Laurent Cantet's "The Class" blurs the line between both genres to chronicle a year in the life of an inner-city Parisian high school.

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The film's star and co-screenwriter, Francois Begaudeau, once was the kind of public school teacher he plays; the school, Francoise Dolto Junior High, in the 20th arrondissement, exists; and its students and staff, not professional actors, play the parts.

The film's scope may be limited (the camera never leaves the school grounds) but "The Class" ends up commenting, effectively and trenchantly, on nearly everything. Multiculturalism, generation gaps, larger issues of social order, rule and law _ are all conflated, as such issues often are, messily and confusingly, especially by adolescents whose reading and comprehension skills are woefully lacking. That, too, is a familiar issue.

There are almost as many stories here as students. Esmeralda (Esmeralda Ouertani) sneers her way through every period but reads Plato at home. Khoumba (Rachel Regulier), once an eager hand-raiser, has a mysterious new attitude problem. Souleymane (Franck Keita), a troublemaker from Mali, faces expulsion. And more than once these budding personalities get the better of their tough-talking but sensitive teacher.

Most refreshing about "The Class," an Oscar nominee for best foreign-language film, is the near-total absence of cliches. Dolto Junior High isn't a gathering of telegenic fashionistas, a rap-fueled training ground for prison or an ivy-covered pile where the main curriculum is Introduction to Poignancy. It's a place of racial tensions, tenuous peace, crushing boredom and, on good days, a minor triumph or two.

Over the film's final images of empty desks and chairs, questions linger: Has Francois accomplished what he set out to do? Has anyone learned anything? Discuss.

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THE CLASS

4 stars

PLOT One year in the life of a Parisian inner-city junior high school. In French with English subtitles.

CAST Francois Begaudeau, Franck Keita, Rachel Regulier.

LENGTH 2:08

BOTTOM LINE Powerful, mesmerizing and full of moments that linger long after the bell rings.

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© 2009, Newsday.