Sunday, October 28, 2012

Monsieur Lazhar 2011


Monsieur Lazhar (2011)    Simon and Alice are grade school students, they both make a shocking discovery in their classroom.  Simon has the job of bringing the small cartons of milk to the classroom for that day, he sees through the window in the door that his teacher has hanged herself.  Alice sees all the milk cartons dropped on the floor from the milk crate and she also looks in the window.  All the children in the class plus the students in the other classes are in an emotional turmoil.  A psychologist is brought in to help everyone cope with their grief and feelings.  The principal hires Bachir Lazhar to begin teaching the class and to also help the class heal.  Monsieur Lazhar is also struggling with deaths in his own family plus a request for asylum in Canada from his home country of Algeria.
     The concept for this movie is very narrow in scope so it seems like you are back in the classroom yourself.  The main difference is that you are not struggling since you didn’t know the teacher.  The idea that she would do this in the classroom because of the pain and confusion it would cause to the children seems incomprehensible?  3* (This movie is OK)

94 min, Drama directed by Philippe Falardeau with Mohamed Fellag, Sophie Nelisse, Emilien Neron, Marie-Eve Beauregard, Vincent Millard, Seddik Benslimane.

Note:  Blockbuster 4*, imdb 7.6 out of 10, 97% critic 89% audience on Rotten Tomatoes.

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