The Class (2008 film) Information & The Class (2008 film) Links at HealthHaven.com

Entre les murs
	; Original French theatrical poster featuring Esmeralda Ouertani and Rachel Regulier
Directed by	Laurent Cantet
Produced by	Caroline Benjo; Carole Scotta
Written by	François Bégaudeau (novel and screenplay); Robin Campillo (writer); Laurent Cantet (writer)
Starring	François Bégaudeau
Cinematography	Pierre Milon
Editing by	Robin Campillo
Distributed by	Sony Pictures Classics
Release date(s)	September 24, 2008 (France); December 19, 2008 (U.S., limited)
Running time	128 min.
Country	France
Language	French

For the novel of the same name, see Entre les murs (novel).

The Class is a 2008 film directed by Laurent Cantet. Its original French title is Entre les murs, which means "Between the Walls". It is based on the 2006 novel of the same name by François Bégaudeau. The film received the Palme d'Or at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival^[1], making it the first French film in 21 years to do so (the last one was Sous le soleil de Satan (1987) by Maurice Pialat).

The novel is a semi-autobiographical account of Bégaudeau's experiences as a literature teacher in an inner city middle school in Paris, particularly illuminating his struggles with "problem children" Esmerelda (Esmeralda Ouertani), Khoumba (Rachel Regulier), and Souleymane (Franck Keïta). The film stars François Bégaudeau in the role of the teacher.

[edit] Reception

At Cannes Film Festival 2008

The movie has received critical acclaim, achieving a 97% rating at Rotten Tomatoes. Metacritic lists Entre les murs with a rating of 94, making it one of the best reviewed films of the year according to the website.

The film was the featured 'opening night' selection at the 46th New York Film Festival in 2008.

[edit] Top ten lists

The film appeared on many critics' top ten lists of the best films of 2008.^[2]

2nd - Dana Stevens, Slate^[2]
2nd - Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times (tied with A Christmas Tale)^[2]
2nd - Michael Philllips, Chicago Tribune^[2]
2nd - Peter Rainer, The Christian Science Monitor^[2]
3rd - David Denby, The New Yorker^[2]
5th - David Edelstein, New York magazine^[2]
5th - Dennis Harvey, Variety^[2]
5th - Ella Taylor, LA Weekly (tied with A Christmas Tale)^[2]
5th - Stephanie Zacharek, Salon^[2]
7th - Andrea Gronvall, Chicago Reader^[2]
7th - Robert Mondello, NPR^[2]
8th - Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly^[2]
8th - Sean Axmaker, Seattle Post-Intelligencer^[2]

[edit] Awards and nominations

[edit] Won

Cannes Film Festival
- Palme d'Or (Laurent Cantet)

César Awards
- Best Writing - Adaptation (François Bégaudeau, Robin Campillo and Laurent Cantet)

Image Awards
- Outstanding Foreign Motion Picture

Independent Spirit Awards
- Best Foreign Film

International Film Festival Cinematik
- Meeting Point Europe Award

[edit] Nominated

Academy Awards
- Best Foreign Language Film

César Awards
- Best Director (Laurent Cantet)
- Best Editing (Robin Campillo and Stephanie Leger)
- Best Film
- Best Sound (Olivier Mauvezin, Agnes Ravez and Jean-Pierre Laforce

European Film Awards
- Best Director (Laurent Cantet)
- Best Film

Satellite Awards
- Best Foreign Language Film

[edit] References

^ French film wins top Cannes prize
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ "Metacritic: 2008 Film Critic Top Ten Lists". Metacritic. http://www.metacritic.com/film/awards/2008/toptens.shtml. Retrieved January 11, 2009.

[edit] External links

Official website
The Class at Allmovie
The Class at the Internet Movie Database
Realism and Debate in Entre Les Murs
Official in Québec http://www.entrelesmurs.ca/
Article by Radio France Internationale in English http://www.rfi.fr/anglais/actu/articles/105/article_1709.asp

This article related to a French film of the 2000s is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

[0] French film wins top Cannes prize

[mctop08-1] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ "Metacritic: 2008 Film Critic Top Ten Lists". Metacritic. http://www.metacritic.com/film/awards/2008/toptens.shtml. Retrieved January 11, 2009.

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