It can\u2019t be a cinema release.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\nThe point is to capture my instant thoughts about a movie and my overall film diet for 30 days, as well as post interesting links to the film in question.<\/p>\n
Here are my notes on Etre et Avoir<\/a><\/strong> (2002) (English translation: “To Be and to Have”) I watched on watched on a DVD on Wednesday 28th March.<\/p>\n\n- Acclaimed French documentary about a primary school in the Auvergne region.<\/li>\n
- Very sparse and simple opening titles reflect the style of what is to come.<\/li>\n
- Shot of the turtles waddling about the classroom unexpectedly funny because it is real.<\/li>\n
- Opens in winter – was this shot over a six month period?<\/li>\n
- I’d forgotten that French van headlights are yellow<\/li>\n
- The school is in Saint-\u00c9tienne-sur-Usson in the Auvergne region of France<\/li>\n
- Camera movements very still and editing very considered, presumably not to freak out the kids<\/li>\n
- Mr Lopez looks remarkably like Steve Jobs<\/li>\n
- Opening lesson of drawing and discussion is quite soothing to watch<\/li>\n
- Bit where kid says he’s seen a ghost and scares the girl opposite him is charming<\/li>\n
- One can’t watch this without thinking of Antoine in THE 400 BLOWS (1959) even though the teacher in Truffaut’s film is a dictator<\/li>\n
- Philibert captures a lot of the human drama of a primary school classroom<\/li>\n
- Natural lighting had to be used to keep the pupils reactions real, but one wonders how the film differed from the unfilmed lessons<\/li>\n
- The way Lopez talks to Jojo about the fish and the purpose of school is remarkable – patient, considered and wise<\/li>\n
- English schools can learn a lot from the cooking scenes – notice how Lopez doesn’t mind mistakes and injects genuine fun into them.<\/li>\n
- Lopez mediating the fight between Julien and Olivier is visually interesting – notice how the camera stays on the two boys and we only hear the teacher.<\/li>\n
- The shot is held for an unusually long time – was this out of necessity (e.g. conditions of filming in a school) or a stylistic choice?<\/li>\n
- Hard to watch the kid on the verge of tears – shows what a tough time childhood can be<\/li>\n
- Do five year olds drive tractors in France?!<\/li>\n
- Kid at kitchen table learning pointless maths exercises brings back flashbacks!<\/li>\n
- Maybe every generation of parent has to cope with hopeless arithmetic set for their children?<\/li>\n
- Mr Lopez seems genuinely interested in the fact that one of his pupils wants to be a vet – why can’t all careers advice be like this?!<\/li>\n
- Getting pupils to draw and think about numbers is a very good idea<\/li>\n
- This was presumably shot in the winter of 2001-02 as it premiered at Cannes in May 2002<\/li>\n
- The problems the parent discusses of her child being distant are handled by Lopez with a tactful wisdom (also highlight the long term dilemma of teaching maths!)<\/li>\n
- Lopez says he’s been teaching dictations for 35 years and at this particular school for 20.<\/li>\n
- The discussion of Tahiti and Brittany is classic<\/li>\n
- “Middle school” seems such a long way off – funny how life divides up into different periods<\/li>\n
- Child washing paint off his hands and a wasp provided the poster<\/li>\n
- Lopez handles the Jojo pushing incident like King Solomon<\/li>\n
- Kid of five preparing pasta! No wonder the French have the best chefs in the world<\/li>\n
- Lopez talking to camera about 60 mins in is almost a monologue scene, breaking with the verite style<\/li>\n
- He clearly is a natural born teacher – loves the job and finds it genuinely rewarding.<\/li>\n
- Lopez’s father was a Spanish immigrant from Andalucia – maybe he left because of the Civil War?<\/li>\n
- This part of the film should actually be used in teacher recruitment.<\/li>\n
- Kids using photocopier unexpectedly hilarious – even adults still get things upside down.<\/li>\n
- Despite Lopez’s explanation I still don’t understand the whole masculine\/feminine thing in the French language.<\/li>\n
- I realise language evolved this way but does it really make sense to apply gender differences to objects like windows or pens?<\/li>\n
- Nice cut to the photocopier repair man, hinting that the two pupils broke it earlier.<\/li>\n
- College sequence brings memories of making the leap from primary to secondary school.<\/li>\n
- Film accurately reflects how massive that seems at the time.<\/li>\n
- Discussion of counting billions between Lopez and Jojo is actually philosophically interesting.<\/li>\n
- Love the way Lopez handles Julien in the garden – his father presumably has throat cancer? – but he handles the situation with his customary wisdom and sensitivity<\/li>\n
- Natalie’s birthday is a nice small snapshot (one of many)<\/li>\n
- The shot of rainbow suggests the filmmakers were either a) unbearably patient b) lucky or c) it was a stolen shot<\/li>\n
- Jojo on the train: “What does derail mean?”<\/li>\n
- Idyllic picnic in the French countryside.<\/li>\n
- New pupils arriving (so small!) show the cycle<\/li>\n
- Two Valentins reflects the fact that classrooms often contain more than one name<\/li>\n
- The way Lopez handles the infant boy crying for his mum is very cool indeed<\/li>\n
- Scene where Lopez deals with Natalie’s shyness contains more drama than many features.<\/li>\n
- The leaving scene makes French kissing on the cheeks seem normal (even to an Englishman).<\/li>\n
- Shot on film rather than digital<\/li>\n
- Used natural light because spot lights would have freaked out the kids<\/li>\n
- There are brief moments when you can catch the kids glancing into the camera<\/li>\n
- Philibert wanted to make a film out of the drama of “life’s little nothings”<\/li>\n
- Childhood is a very big deal whilst you are actually living through it – the film reflects this<\/li>\n
- He never does films “about” but rather “with” – desires to tell a story without heavy handed narration or didactic voiceover<\/li>\n
- This makes it very different from the instructional form of documentary that we often see on TV<\/li>\n
- The film is a experiential reconstruction of events rather than<\/li>\n
- Filmmaking choices were often made on the hoof<\/li>\n
- Sensitive film stock used along with wide angle lenses (and\u00a0presumably\u00a0quiet Arriflex cameras)<\/li>\n
- It was never intended to be an inspiration to teachers, but it may have that effect on viewers<\/li>\n
- Patience, ability to listen and sense of calm are key to Lopez’s success as a teacher<\/li>\n
- His words<\/li>\n
- Note how pupils are encouraged to help one another – helps build confidence and solidarity<\/li>\n
- Philibert thinks the documentary form can have a poetic and metaphoric quality rather than just showing facts<\/li>\n
- The film is a wonderful counterblast to the notion of teachers as lazy or useless (the standard right wing line about the profession)<\/li>\n
- Ultimately it is about how the transmission of knowledge and experience can be a wonderful thing.<\/li>\n
- The real life postscript to the film is incredibly sad.<\/li>\n
- I prefer to remember his words as he trims his hedge:\u00a0\u201cEverything that you put in, the children always return it.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
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