"Entre les Murs": Poignant or Searching?

Set in one teacher's classroom in an unruly school in the XXe arrondissement of Paris, students struggle against their supervisors' best attempts to discipline them.  What ought to be an environment of intellectual exploration is instead an impossible exercise in balancing the need to discipline students with the need to encourage them to express themselves.

Eschewing the usual cinematic tricks like plot twists and soundtracks allows film to use a minimalist approach that focuses the characters' reactions and emotions.  During the parent-teacher conference, for example, there is no high drama, but one can feel the incredible awkwardness that teacher experiences, sitting contorted, occasionally biting his nails, as he tries to politely explain in that to parents that their children are worthless students.

Instead of trying to present a complete criticism of any one piece of the French educational system, the movie uses a series of episodes in the classroom and teachers' lounge to highlight the irresolvable philosophical and bureaucratic tensions that arise in public education.  This is ultimately the only mature way to approach the issue because there are no simple answers to the problems of schools.  By approaching these problems in an idealistic way, American high-school films just end up looking stupid by comparison.  e.g. "Stand and Deliver" gives the impression that the poor are totally and unfairly marginalized by the educational system.  While not untrue, it completely overlooks deep socioeconomic factors that make educating the lowest strata of society a nearly impossible task.  The feel-good sensation one might experience during the film is entirely wiped out by its disingenuous portrayal of reality.  "Entre les Murs" correctly realizes that it would be absurd take a stand on questions like: how can teachers ask students to respect themselves when they don't always respect their students in the same manner?  Or should one teach to the lowest common denominator, or to the 14-year-old girl in the class who reads Plato for fun (greatest description EVER of The Republic, by the way)?  These questions have no definite answers, so a montage that presents the difficulties of each stance becomes the most compelling approach.

In the end, we have a film that is probably not superb, but a thoughtful work that causes one to reflect on hard questions that we gladly forget about the minute we stepped through the insulated doors of our good universities.