This film deserves it's own blog entry. It's that good. This pretty much become instantly one of my favourite films. The film is about a 9th grade French teacher in Paris during one full school year. His class is racially diverse, as well as diverse in opinion, perspective and understanding. I can't explain the plot of this film; it's a slice of real life. As the credits rolled, I felt I knew these people. I didn't feel like I watched a film but rather I saw an actual documentary of school life, and it was dead on accurate. It's not done documentary style though; the film is highly cinematic and is one of those films that finds beauty in the everyday. I didn't see any actors in this, but rather real people just being themselves, which interestingly, nearly all the characters both major and minor went by their actual names. This type of setting brilliantly brought in concepts and issues in a way that was realistic while at the same time diving so deep into ideas that it would seem impossible for a film to do so without being too upfront about it. It dealt with gender, race, religion, sexuality, national identity, ageism, philosophy, everything. It was unbelievable. It gave me shivers. I may give out a number of 10/10 ratings, which I stand behind and believe those to be perfect films, but this is something that transcends into this level that's indescribable. This is an absolute must see; if you don't like it in even the slightest, I may have to reevaluate what I think about you.
10/10
