Film Review: Monsieur Lazhar
MONSIEUR LAZHAR (Philippe Falardeau, 2011)
The film was nominated in the Best Foreign Language film category of Oscar Awards early this year (for films of 2011) won by Iran's A Separation.
Monsieur Lazhar, an immigrant from Algeria, replaces the teacher of 11- and 12-year old elementary pupils in a public school in Montreal. The teacher he replaces committed suicide inside the same room where the pupils hold their classes. The challenge of Monsieur Lazhar is to help the pupils come to terms with the tragedy although school officials forbid him to do so because he is not a professional who can (or should) handle such delicate matter. Monsieur Lazhar, without the knowledge of the pupils, is also coping with his own personal tragedy that involves the family he left in Algeria.
The film was nominated in the Best Foreign Language film category of Oscar Awards early this year (for films of 2011) won by Iran's A Separation.
Monsieur Lazhar, an immigrant from Algeria, replaces the teacher of 11- and 12-year old elementary pupils in a public school in Montreal. The teacher he replaces committed suicide inside the same room where the pupils hold their classes. The challenge of Monsieur Lazhar is to help the pupils come to terms with the tragedy although school officials forbid him to do so because he is not a professional who can (or should) handle such delicate matter. Monsieur Lazhar, without the knowledge of the pupils, is also coping with his own personal tragedy that involves the family he left in Algeria.
Why am I reminded of the film The Class, the French film nominated in the same category a few years back? I wrote a review of The Class in this blog two (or three) years ago. The only similarity between these two films is the presence of an unconventional teacher who challenge the otherwise conservative rules of public school systems. Both films work for me because they have completely different stories to tell. This film is quiet, gentle, but effective in whatever it tries to convey.
Rating: 4.0/4.0
Note: I have observed that films nominated in the Best Foreign Language films category are, in so many instances, much better than some of the films nominated in the Best Picture category.
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