Review of Monsieur Lazhar (2011) by Anubhav D — 20 Apr 2012
Monsieur Lazhar is a good film. A very good one, NEARLY touching the surface of amazing.
The first forty minutes are really unbalanced, and they want to tell a lot, but end up telling so little. In the first half, it struggles to strike a balance between the children's story and Lazhar's tale, and the movie suffers a lot from that. The rest of the movie gets it right, though, and all the beats are handled really well. The film is directed to its actors' strengths, and every shot looks beautiful... beautiful enough to make you overlook the unfocused nature of the screenplay.
The acting is quite good, and the child actors are absolutely brilliant. Mark my words, they will win over you. And I've got a feeling this isn't the last you'll see of them.
The first forty minutes feel like traditional art film fare, with long and at times unnecessary scenes, but the rest of it is magical. But it isn't magical enough to make up for what came before it.
This review of Monsieur Lazhar (2011) was written by Anubhav D on 20 Apr 2012.
Monsieur Lazhar has generally received very positive reviews.
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