Interview with Laurent Cantet (The Class)

On the outset, The Class is deceptive and microscopic enough in nature that that you won’t feel the film’s powerful grip until you’re reminded of how invested you are in the plight of several of the film’s characters. Stitched together by a cast of non-professional actors, the Palme d’or-winning picture is a multi-ethnic milieu set within the limitations of an institution and within the timeline constraints of a full school year. Based on the novel by François Bégaudeau who wrote the script and stars as the film’s lead, the film is specific in its setting, but the story is timeless, universal and stretches way beyond the storyline’s settings – it could easily take place in your neck of the concentrate jungle.

Director Laurent Cantet’s demonstrates the daily grind of one teacher taking on a group of very opinionated youths. Cultures clash, and feelings get hurt. After Ressources humaines (1999), Time Out (2001) and 2005’s Heading South, it’s safe to say that Cantet feels best at home when there is human conflict. This film makes every Hollywood film set in a class room into awkwardly inadequate portraits that simply fail to ring true.

Laurent Cantet

YAMA RAHIMI: In the last two decades the world has changed a lot. What’s your concern as a filmmaker?
LAURENT CANTET: What I try to do when I make a film is to show the complexity of our society and how difficult it is to find your place in it which this film deals with too. The real life gives you hundreds of scripts if you look very carefully. All my films have sociological concern but I don’t try to make them like a sociological thesis but try to show them through characters whose lives are affected.
 
YR: What’s your attraction to the working class?
LC: Not only working class but “work” itself is something that interests me. The social position that work gives to each of us and how you adapt to whatever that milieu is. I think work is an important thing to define you in the society.
 
YR: In this film you tapped into something that’s universal. The same or similar problems that the French are experiencing, is also relevant for other Western countries. Do you think reforms are necessary to adapt for new times?
LC: No. I’m not the ministry of education but school is an important part of the society and it’s not just a world onto itself. It’s also a place where children not only learn knowledge but also learn to think and to argue. It’s a place that concentrates all the questions that the society should look at.
 
YR: I know the film has been well received by the critics and the audience. How was it received by the teachers in France?
LC: In fact the film divided the teacher community. On one side you have those who identify with the teachers in the film and the others who don’t want to look at themselves in the mirror. There are also those who don’t have the problems in their schools and are afraid that the film may give their school a bad name. This film is about a specific class room and their specific problems. Every class and school has their problems. We shot the film not far from Henry IV, which is one of the best schools in Paris. They were also afraid that we give this negative image to parents who would be afraid to send their children to public schools. Some people tried to use the film as a documentary which is not because everything was written in the script. Unfortunately the press gave those people time to speak and attack schools in general. I’m not trying to prove anything with the film except to show how difficult it is to be together with 25 people for one year and teach. The junior school is the only place where you have this mix of different students.
 
YR: You make an especially powerful statement about the state of the teaching profession with the “forgotten student”….. What was the genesis how this particular character and scene and final piece of dialogue?
LC: It was already in the book. I wanted to show that the school can be a wonderful place of integration but it can also exclude others.

YR: Were any of the real students that Francois mentioned in the book used in the film?
LC: No. We shot the film near there but Francois wanted to make the two parts of his life separate.We set up workshops for students to participate. At first we had 50 students then lost more students because they lost interests and the 25 that remained are in the film.
               
YR: It took a year to prepare the film?
LC: Well a year that we met only every Wednesday afternoon but not the entire year. I was writing and testing situation and go back writing. The writing process was long because whatever happened in the workshop would influence the script.
               
YR: Did it take long to find the right students?
LC: In fact I didn’t choose them, the students chose the film. Those who remained and were most involved in the workshops are in the film. 

YR: How long was the actual shooting of the film?
LC: It was a seven weeks shooting during the summer holidays.

YR: Visually, in the scenes that take place in the classroom, you make a deliberate choice to film teacher-student relationship as a tug of war. I’d like to know why you choose this configuration for setting the frame.
LC: Well the idea was show like a match where both sides are equals. What amazed me was the energy of the confrontations.
 
YR: What was the biggest challenge for a film like this?
LC: I did short film 15 years ago where high school children preparing a demonstration. I felt a great freedom on that film which I always wanted to recreate which I finally managed with this film. Especially since I was working with HD and had three cameras that allowed for long takes.

YR: What was the biggest challenge working with Francois as an actor?
LC: It was no problem because Francois was involved in the process from the beginning. He wasn’t just acting but also directing from the inside. He was too focused on what’s happening next and had no time pay attention to his image. He was going back to his professional reflex as a teacher. Even at the end when he had the dilemma, I didn’t have to give him any indication on what to do. He reached his own decision as if he would have in real life.

YR: Were you surprised by the success of the film…including in Cannes?
LC: Yes. When I make a film I usually have a lot doubt but with this film I knew we had something special and that it works. What was surprising that the film could speak to an international audience.

YR: Last year’s Palme d’or winner (4 Months, 3 Weeks and Two Days) played at the very beginning of Cannes. Can you elaborate on your and your producer’s decision to show the film towards the tail end of the festival? Why did you choose this slot?
LC: We don’t know what happened. It wasn’t just shown at the end but also selected later. We had to wait a week more because they already selected two French films. Maybe they were waiting for another film that didn’t come but I think the schedule was good for us.
 
YR: The Class has just been nominated for the Prix Louis-Delluc award. In your own words – can you describe to those who live outside of France, what the award symbolizes perhaps in comparison to the Cesar award for Best Film?
LC: It’s being compared to the Goncourt in Literature. The Cesar is more for films that works in the box office. The Prix Louis-Delluc is something more prestigious maybe. There’s only one prize a year and for the entire film only.