p. We went to see a film called “Être et Avoir”:http://chipsquaw.free.fr/etreetavoir/index2uk.html last night. Directed (and filmed, I think) by Nicolas Philibert, it’s a fly-on-the-wall documentary following half a year in the life of school teacher Georges Lopez. He looks after a dozen or so children—ranging from 3 to 11 years old—in a single class as the sole teacher (known as classe unique in France, where it is apparently quite common in rural areas). The film was refreshingly different from the average ‘fly-on-the-wall’ documentary for three reasons:

Even though it was a very intimate portrait of both the children and the teacher, it never felt voyeuristic.

It didn’t appear to have any kind of agenda or message—the events were presented very simply and the film maker was an observer, rather than a commentator.

The director really took his time with the shots. Not for him the currently popular nausea-inducing camera work and jumpy edits; every shot was unhurried and allowed you to just watch, in much more detail than you otherwise might. There was one long cut of fir trees being buffeted in a bitter blizzard which went on for minutes on end, which made me realise that I haven’t really looked at something like that in a long time, and that it was stunningly beautiful.

p. Georges Lopez is an incredible man. We never saw him raise his voice throughout the whole film; with any other person, it might be hard to believe that he never shouted, but his whole demeanour suggested calm and infinite patience. He was very firm with the children, but scrupulously fair and kind. He coaxed responses out of the shy ones, stopped the mischievous ones from causing havoc, resolved fights, tears and disputes, and sponged felt tip pen methodically off grubby little mitts—all without shouting or appearing to change pace at all. He would set les petits off on some colouring, and then give dictation to the older children.

p. His dedication, personal involvement and respect for his pupils really shone through, and they seemed to return the respect. The older pupils helped the younger ones, and they seemed—sometimes at least—to take his lead and resolve their disputes with discussion rather than fists. There was a wonderful passage where one of the older boys was writing and a little girl called Marie watched his pencil move from a few centimetres away with rapt fascination.

p. If you’re after drama, then this is not the film for you. Nothing particularly out of the ordinary happens. The youngest girl gets lost in a corn field on the field trip but she’s found again, there’s a fight between two of the oldest, ox-like boys and there’s a comedy moment as the little tyke JoJo tries to photocopy a book.

p. There are lots of very touching moments. Georges tells his pupils that he will be retiring from teaching in a year and a half, and their stunned incomprehension is a picture. It’s clear that they can’t begin to picture the world without ‘Sir’ teaching in the school. Then there’s the scene where he talks to Julien about his father. It gradually becomes clear that Julien’s father has throat cancer, and is going back into hospital to have his larynx removed. Georges comforts Julien in a pragmatic, quiet and gentle way—”Sickness is a normal part of life. We hope that we stay healthy, but if sickness comes along, we just have to cope the best we can.”

p. It’s an inspiring and rather moving film, and probably should be required viewing for anyone going in to any kind of teaching. I defy anyone not to get a little misty-eyed when Georges says goodbye to his little charges at the end of the term.