Review of The Class (2008) by Andy C — 31 Jul 2011

The long scenes in the classroom are great, I really enoyed the dynamic between the students and the teacher, and the kids are very convincing (especially Regulier; my god, that face), and it made me wish I spoke French so I could understand the intricacies of what they were discussing.

There is a problem with poorly defined characters, not surprising from a partially-improvised film, but still frustrating. Khoumba seemed to be a very interesting and complex girl, but she kinda fades into the background somewhere around the middle as the focus shifts to Souleymane, a less interesting character who is primarily there for conflict which I felt wasn't necessary.

I also didn't feel like it earned the cheesy shots of empty classrooms at the end; that kind of shot only works if you've been thoroughly embedded within the characters and will feel an emptiness in your soul when you leave them (end of The Wire season 4 is my obvious comparison here; similar shots, much more effective and appropriate for what came before).

That's not the case here, this is certainly no character piece and those sentimental shots felt out of place. Minor quibbles, though. It's a good movie.