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The Class: is the language of the classroom a universal one?

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There’s something very familiar about 2009 Oscar nominee The Class.

Set in an inner city Parisian school, it’s a documentary-style depiction of an ethnically and culturally diverse class of 15 to 16 year olds over the course of about a year.

Their teacher (François Bégaudeau) is challenged with educating his students about the French language, but of course the role of a teacher is more than just the delivery of lessons. It’s the role of mediator, ego manager, diplomat and personal development tutor, and more.

The Class

I found it very easy to empathise with this guy over the pressures of his demanding role. However, I also found it easy to empathise with the students – struggling to learn within a mixed ability classroom, and coping with the difficulties of finding their way as young adults within such an unstable and unpredictable environment.

The Class

When their teacher makes a clumsy and insensitive remark after an incident, I totally understand why the kids involved react as they do. And when these teens struggle to learn labels of language, such as the imperfect subjunctive, I feel their pain. I was never taught about these sentence signposts at my school, but I still know how to read and write.

Anyway, it’s this ability to empathise and identify that I think makes this movie so powerful. It presents a hugely involving window into a world which is replicated in most schools across the western world.

The Class

I was initially surprised that it seemed so familiar to me since I haven’t stepped foot inside a school for over two decades. However, I think that this just proves that the language of the classroom is to some extent ageless.

And that brings me onto its Oscar nomination. This powerful French film really deserved an Oscar, but lost out to fellow category nominee Departures (aka Okuribito).

However, it seems crazy that the award it was nominated for was Best Foreign Language film. Surely the language of The Class isn’t foreign, it’s universal?

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The Class is showing for a week on Sky Movies Premiere from Friday 26th February at 12midnight.

Check out this year’s Oscar nominees here.


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