The premise of this French documentary is simple and the execution masterful. Filmmaker Nicolas Philibert follows life at a rural French primary school for a year. He focuses on one teacher, M. Lopez, and a handful of kids, following them home to see their families struggle with their homework, giving us brief glimpses into their difficult extra-curricular existence. School is a safe haven for them and M. Lopez a surrogate father, instilling discipline and patiently educating each young tyke until they’re ready to fly the nest and move on to secondary school.The pace trundles rather than zooms, much like the pace of life in the film. But unlike other French auteurs, Philibert doesn’t patronise, baffle or bore the audience. It’s always entertaining, often hilarious and never boring. There’s no sanctimonious voiceover, he lets the characters tell their own story. After a year following these fascinating subjects, he’s managed to construct a coherent and extremely watchable window into their lives.
And maybe it’s too much living in the city, but this came as a welcome break from the frantic pace and worries of life. It has a quiet power and refreshing calm that makes you forget everything else, if only for an hour and a half.
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