Review of Monsieur Lazhar (2011) by Pj P — 12 Aug 2012

It is winter in Montreal and the school principal is having difficulty replacing one of her teachers. For reasons which remain enigmatic a much-loved teacher has hanged herself in her classroom and her body has been discovered by one of her class, twelve-year-old Simon, arriving in the classroom first on milk monitor duty. His friend Alice following, also sees the body.

The principal's problem in replacing the teacher is solved when Bachir Lazhar, a 55-year-old Algerian asylum-seeker arrives, ready to start work immediately. M Lazhar has a view of education which is different from that of the rest of the staff. The desks, arranged democratically in a circle, are re-arranged in formal rows. Old fashioned grammar is reintroduced; books are revered, Balzac is studied. It's all a bit old-fashioned, but not harsh, and gradually the kids warm to the new teacher.

For if the children are guilt-ridden because of the teacher's suicide, M Lazhar too has pain from his past; his wife and daughters have died in circumstances which have led to his exile. Maybe the children, in particular Simon, made the late teacher's life more difficult. If Bachir's wife was being threatened, why, the immigration officer wants to know, was it him who fled first, leaving her to her fate?

One of the most striking and convincing elements of Philippe Falardeau's film is in the treatment of the children. Their concerns and concern are allowed all the importance of those of the adults - an all-too-rare embracing of the reality of childhood experience. We share the children's insights as well as their worries - this without recourse to the old-heads-on-young shoulders solution generally employed. It is the children who are allowed to convey all the complexity of emotions which are the motif of the film. They are given dignity without the withdrawal of comfort when that is needed.

And it is comfort which Bachir gives the children and which they reciprocate, providing a coming to terms with what has happened which the antiseptic culture of the pre-Bachir school was entirely inadequate to provide. The staff cannot touch the children. Not a cuff across the head (Bachir, innocently does) not a hug; certainly nothing which would engage with their emotional needs.

As spring arrives the relationship between teacher and pupils has blossomed. It is too good to last and the end, when it comes, is sudden and without drama. It is also triumphant and touching. The whole audience sat in the cinema until the end of the credits. It was a film about teaching, about learning. The credits included a book list.

Monsieur Lazhar is acted with total conviction by a cast led by Mohamed Fellag (in reality an exile from Algeria) as Lazhar and ably supported by a brilliant group of child actors among whom Emilien Neron (Simon) and Sophie Nelisse (Alice) are bloody outstanding, wonderful. Perfectly restrained and entirely.

Engaging Monsieur Lazhar is one of those films which doesn't put a foot wrong; beautiful, simple and profound.