What if we watched a film about school, just to… not take our mind off things? This Wednesday comes to the cinema A serious job, a film directed by Thomas Lilti with Vincent Lacoste, François Cluzet and Adèle Exarchopoulos, which features a group of united and exhausted teachers. Undoubtedly a future box office success, because the adventures of these college teachers are likely to resonate with many teachers.
Cinema has always been very inspired by the school world*. Comedies, dramas, documentaries… These films have often attracted a lot of audiences, especially among teachers. Because these feature films keep the flame alive for their profession, as evidenced by Adeline, a German teacher in secondary school, who responded to our call: “Certain films touched me because I found in them the breath that led you to become a teacher, the one who pushes you to believe in each student, to try to bring them to the end of their possibilities…”.
Popular documentaries
But then, what are teachers’ favorite films about education? Definitely the documentaries! “Perhaps it is the teachers who talk best about their profession,” says Julie, a middle school teacher. To be and to Have , by Nicolas Philibert (2002), is the feature film which comes at the head of the pack. Remember: we follow Serge Lopez, the only schoolteacher in an Auvergne village who teaches thirteen students in a primary school. “This unique classroom teacher accompanies children in their lives, and his role goes beyond that of a teacher. He is a teacher in the etymological sense, he leads children towards adulthood. Since I have been teaching, this is what I have tended to do, to support them so that they become accomplished citizens,” comments Julie. “This film succeeds in showing the beauty of our profession. It enhances the relationship of a teacher with his students. School is really a very rich laboratory of human experiences,” also believes Yannick, school teacher.
Still in the documentary department, Sandra, a secondary school teacher, remembers with emotion My school teacher, by Emilie Thérond (2015), which follows the last year before retirement of Jean-Michel Burel, schoolteacher of a multi-level class in a rural area: “This film is poignant, because she is a former student marked by this school teacher from his childhood who wanted to pay tribute to him during his last year of teaching. A film which, again, glorifies the patience, kindness and determination of a teacher.” On a different theme, The Court of Babel, by Julie Bertuccelli (2013), focuses on middle school students from the four corners of the world brought together in a reception class to learn French. “Everyone should see it to understand the need to welcome, to transmit, to learn, to integrate, to accept others,” believes Julie.
“Between the walls” left very beautiful memories
But it’s not just true stories that thrill teachers, fiction about school also works, as long as you don’t pile on too many clichés! Géraldine, French teacher, speaks with emotion The heirs, by Marie-Castille Mention-Schaar (2014), which tells the adventure of a History teacher who decided to register her difficult second grade class in the National Resistance and Deportation Competition. “This film gives a realistic image of a teacher’s interest in his students. It is one of the films that I watch regularly before the start of the school year to boost my motivation and give meaning to my work. It shows the social role of our profession, without excessive dramatization and without making fun of it. »
Another big success: Between the walls, by Laurent Cantet, Palme d’Or at Cannes in 2008 and which reveals the daily life of François, a young French teacher in a 4th grade class in a famously difficult college in the 20th arrondissement of Paris. “I remember a scene: the teacher, who struggled all year, asks his students what they have learned. I was struck by the lack of gratitude from these teenagers, not one of whom mentioned what this teacher was able to bring them. Terrible observation of our role,” underlines Julie.
“This film that made me want to teach in professional high school”
Among the feature films that feature a charismatic teacher capable of revealing the students to themselves, Eric cites a great classic: “ Dead Poets Society, by Peter Weir (1995). Because it corresponds to what I was taught in high school and what I want to teach. » Marie agrees: “Of course, it’s fictionalized for the cinema, it’s in a private establishment abroad, but I love this relationship between Professor Keating and his students, the passion he instills in them.” Stéphanie was inspired by Michelle Pfeiffer in Rebel spirits, by John N. Smithavec (1995): “This film made me want to teach professional high school. I loved this teacher for her strength and her desire to shake up the education system for a forgotten and fragile public. »
The figure of the superhero teacher, at the heart of so many American films, also seduced Yannick when he saw Detachment, by Tony Kaye (2012). With Adrien Brody, he recounts the horrors of a replacement teacher in a difficult high school in the New York suburbs: “Because very often, we teachers want to save the world, but that is not necessarily possible,” quips -he. He also cites Mr Lazhar, by Philippe Falardeau (2012), which tells the story of a teacher hired at short notice to replace a primary school teacher who suddenly disappeared. “It shows what can happen in a classroom when you approach students with kindness and trust them.”
Other more disturbing films have left their mark. As Risky Business, by André Cayatte, with Jacques Brel (1967), often cited by our teacher readers. It tells the story of a teacher accused of sexual assault by some of his students. “This film had an impact on me at the time and Brel is masterful as a wrongly accused teacher,” emphasizes Pernelle, who makes you want to watch it again.
* We have listed some films about the school environment…
Between the walls, The four hundred blows, Zero conduct, School life, Being and having, The circle of deceased poets, The great minds, It begins today, The schoolmaster, The heirs, The wave, The Under-gifted pass the baccalaureate, Skirt day, Teachers on the edge, Noce blanche, Brio, Petite nature, The most beautiful job in the world, The war of the buttons, The choristers, The dodge, Breakfast club, PROFS , Student Ducobu, On the way to school…