Review: Monsieur Lazhar

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 Monsieur Lazhar

Given its stellar competition at this year's Oscars, it's not surprising that Monsieur Lazhar did not take home the award for Best Foreign Language Film. But this quiet, deeply affecting Canadian import is no less deserving of the honor than the winner, Iran's A Separation. Set during a dreary Montreal winter that reflects the movie's tone in so many ways, Monsieur Lazhar is an astute commentary on the art of teaching, an exploration of the cyclical nature of life and a powerful meditation on loss and grief.

The film opens at the start of a typical elementary school day that delivers a shock to everyone: A teacher has hanged herself in a classroom, and two of her students, Alice (Sophie Nélisse) and Simon (Émilien Néron) are deeply disturbed after finding the body. The horrific event casts a pall over the school and leaves the stunned but stoic principal, Mme. Vaillancourt (Danielle Proulx) unable to find a suitable replacement teacher.

Enter Algerian immigrant Bachir Lazhar (Mohamed Fellag), who inquires about the teaching job after reading about the suicide in the local newspaper. Vaillancourt is skeptical at first, but Lazhar's personality and credentials convince her to give him a chance. (His major argument for being hired is rather convincing: No one else wants the job.)

Lazhar means well, but from his first day he finds it difficult to connect with his students or help them deal with their grief. His teaching methods are hopelessly rigid and antiquated, and his idea of discipline is slapping a student in the head. His fellow teachers find him pleasant enough, but out of touch with the realities of a modern educational setting.

Lazhar and his students eventually warm up to each other. But while he becomes more comfortable with teaching, we learn that his students aren't the only ones who grieve. Like the circumstances that brought him to the classroom, Lazhar's past is unthinkably tragic. His students know nothing about his life story and have little sense of his pain. But as he bonds with them -- especially the quietly precocious Alice and the rebellious Simon -- they help him come to terms with his own loss and inspire him to get on with his life.

All this sadness may make Monsieur Lazhar sound glum, but it isn't. Thanks to writer/director Philippe Falardeau's agile direction and observant script, Monsieur Lazhar is thoroughly entertaining and more thought provoking than depressing. The story moves briskly and never mires itself in sentiment or cloying emotion, focusing instead on the meaning of grief in our lives and contrasting the various ways the characters cope with the unthinkable. And while Monsieur Lazhar is no comedy, there is an occasional touch of kids-will-be-kids humor to lighten the mood.

For all its piercing observations about death and loss, Monsieur Lazhar is just as perceptive about teaching. The film nails every daily detail of a teacher's world, from the late nights awash in paperwork to the awkward moments when students prove they know more than the teacher to the rare joy of sparking a glimmer of interest in an otherwise apathetic child. In this respect, the film is in league with some of the best recent films of the genre, such as Chalk and The Class.

Fellag's Lazhar is a flawless and thoroughly nuanced performance; thanks to the actor's vaguely sad countenance, we're aware of Lazhar's suffering long before the story explains what troubles him. Fellag brings a not-quite-stoic quality to the character, maintaining a transparent façade of strength that reveals he is quietly crumbling on the inside. He's also a believable and sometimes amusing stranger in a strange land; in one of the film's funnier moments, he brings a tray of unfamiliar (to Canadians, at least) Algerian food to a potluck event at the school and is bewildered by a plate of Rice Krispies Treats.

As good as Fellag is, the film's young leads are just as strong. In only his second role, Néron is terrific as the traumatized Simon, a strong-willed child who wishes the adults would let him process his grief on his own terms rather than expecting him to exhibit the "right" emotions. He's convincingly frustrated as a kid whose I got this attitude may be perfectly healthy but rubs his elders the wrong way. And first-time actor Nélisse is equally convincing as the bright, talented and sometimes unnervingly mature Alice, a laconic girl who has a lot to teach the adults about dealing with suffering.

Monsieur Lazhar is an Oscar-caliber film in every way. Don't miss this poignant and captivating story about the pain of loss and promise of renewal.

MONSIEUR LAZHAR

A beautiful beautiful film. Not to be missed.

Monsieur Lazhar

Saw this movie the other evening. Riveting; wonderful performance by the lead actor, teacher. And all the children.