Monday, February 20, 2012

Monsieur Lazhar (2011)

Monsieur Lazhar (2011)
Monsieur Lazhar (2011)

Genre: Drama
Director: Philippe Falardeau
Starring: Mohamed Fellag, Sophie Nélisse, Émilien Néron, Danielle Proulx
Language: French, English, Arabic
Duration: 94 min.
Rating: 8.0  

Summary:
When an elementary school teacher commits suicide, her class and the entire community is shaken to the core. No one wants to talk about it save her replacement, Bachir Lazhar, an Algerian immigrant seeking political asylum.



Monsieur Lazhar is a film directed by Philippe Falardeau, based on a one man play written by Évelyne de la Chenelière. It has been nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the 84th Academy Awards, representing Canada, and is nominated nine times including for Best Picture at the upcoming 2012 Genie Awards.

Set in an elementary school in snowy 'slushy' Montreal, the film follows Bachir Lazhar (Mohamed Fellag), an Algerian immigrant hired to replace a sixth grade teacher who killed herself in her classroom. Lazhar, a victim of a terrible personal tragedy of his own, arrives and helps the children through the difficult time.

Monsieur Lazhar (2011)

Falardeau presents this story of grief with a simple delicate touch. His affecting screenplay balances the sadness with breaks of comedy, and hits all the emotional notes with a subtleness that avoids the usual cheap tricks. He's aided by some fully natural and convincing performances from charismatic lead Mohamed Fellag, and from the child actors, Émilien Néron and Sophie Nélisse.  A pair who share some great chemistry, as they deal with the poignant and unanswerable questions troubling them.

The film's look and indeed the sound, echo the tone of its story with transparent camerawork and a floating piano score that are always precise but never draw undue attention to themselves, allowing just the right amount of light to penetrate the windows of the cold and depressing winter setting.

Monsieur Lazhar (2011)

Not everything is perfect though, there are a couple of plot developments that don't completely pass the BS meter. I suppose it can easily be overlooked, but the explanation and procedure of how Lazhar gets hired is something that just would never happen, so it's a little bit of a distraction for a film that's otherwise firmly grounded in reality. Also some of the characters and interactions feel somewhat contrived and obvious, like the overzealous romantic interest shown by a colleague, and the frequent bullying of the fat kid. Again not a big deal, but they just don't feel totally genuine.

Still, Falardeau has captured some special moments of humanity and the outright charm and sensitivity on display is what really makes this beautiful film shine. For me, Monsieur Lazhar falls just short of being one of the best of the year, but it is a very good one, and a real pleasure to watch. It would not surprise me at all, if it receives a good share of the Academy's votes.

Bonjour Tristesse


Monsieur Lazhar (2011)

Monsieur Lazhar (2011)

Monsieur Lazhar (2011)

Monsieur Lazhar (2011)

Monsieur Lazhar (2011)

Monsieur Lazhar (2011)

Monsieur Lazhar (2011)

Monsieur Lazhar (2011)

15 comments:

Bonjour Tristesse said...

I'm happy to hear it. I hope you get a chance to screen it soon.

Bonjour Tristesse said...

Thanks G!

Bonjour Tristesse said...

Yeah like I said, they can easily be overlooked on the strength of everything else.

Bonjour Tristesse said...

 Yep it's an interesting scenario, I've certainly not seen before.

Hoi-Ming Ng said...

This one interests me greatly.

G said...

one for the heartstrings...great review

d_4 said...

This one's gonna be touching. You can just tell. I would've predicted some false seeming scenarios just looking at the trailer, but I don't think it'll be much of a bother to me.

The Angry Lurker said...

It's made me think a bit, good storyline, not the run of the mill certainly....

Bonjour Tristesse said...

Well, it's possible that I'm being too hard to please here. The performances do make up for the missteps, and I do highly recommend it if it makes it out your way.

Yeah the Genies are usually held after the Oscars. Though I have to admit I don't follow them very closely.

NeverTooEarlyMP said...

Great review. I hadn't heard about some of the problems with the plot, but it still sounds rather enjoyable. They've started running the trailer for this one at my local art house theater, but don't have a date set for when it will actually show, so we'll see if it stays on my radar as we get into spring/summer films. Interesting that the Genie awards are after the Oscars. I wonder if they do that intentionally, or if it's totally separate.

FrontRoomCinema said...

Sounds brilliant. I really want to see this BIG TIME!! Thanks BT

Bonjour Tristesse said...

Yep. I think you'll probably enjoy this one too.

StevenSheehan said...

I thought this was too short, where another 20 minutes could've given some depth to the classroom relationship between teacher and kids. we are told there is a close bond between teacher/class but i don't think we really see it enough. the kids were great little actors although strangely a little TOO mature in their performances - their dialogue felt contrived at times, words unlikely to be spoken by 10/11 year olds.

Bonjour Tristesse said...

Some of the characters and dialogue didn't feel as real as I would have liked either. Though not enough to affect my overall enjoyment.

Thanks for stopping by Steven.

StevenSheehan said...

no worries sir, always like your reading your reviews!

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