It All Starts Today (1999)

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

That was an excellent one.

Intense, gripping, stylish and poignant

A Major Disappointment

IT ALL STARTS TODAY (dir. Betrand Tavernier) has the look and feel of an actual documentary, and the film delineates the trials and tribulations of the director of an impoverished municipal kindergarten in rural France. With almost no parental or government support, he and his teachers try to make a positive difference in the community against almost insurmountable odds. The film is a heartfelt and poignant Call To Arms for a better and more effective strategy for the social service sector of the French economy. The Populist appeal of IT ALL STARTS TODAY is very reminiscent of the English director, Ken Loach. IT ALL STARTS TODAY is easily one of the finer films about primary education ever made.

This is a film concerning a fairly mundane topic - problems in a small-town school. Through masterful cinematography and storytelling, Bertrand Travernier constructs a fascinating and heartwarming film. The acting is excellent throughout despite some of the characters being played by people who are not professional actors. The leading roles are full multi-dimensional and fully engaging, The non-professionals are honest and convincing.The dvd commentary by Travernier is also worth a watch, as he points out many significant background details, and explains the interactions between the real town and townspeople, and the actors and movie production.This is not an american action film, but never leaves the viewer bored, and does not play on cheap emotions.

If we see the movie by Bertrand Tavernier, we could draw a conclusion that schools nowadays in France are worse than let us say before the First World War. Apparently there are not sufficient financial means for the schools and the teachers are confronted with the enormous task of holding everything together. The schoolmaster Daniël Lefebre (Philippe Torreton) manages to be as well a celebration-organizer, a social worker, a psycho-therapeutist, a pediatrist and ... a good teacher. Does he have a private life? He must be an idealist. As long as such people continue to work for the good of the upcoming youth, our civilization has less chances to fall apart. This movie is an encouragement for all good teachers in the world.

This film is an excellent commentary of the sheer difficulties in trying to improve a bad situation when the whole system - from the families involved to the political authorities - are effectively working against you. It shows that it is vital to persevere because to give up would be awful. Its ultimately optimistic about the strength of the human spirit but scathing about the corrupting and degrading influence of the system.The only criticisms are that the camera technique was very fluid which meant that the picture was always moving up and down, in and out of focus. This was interesting but quite taxing on the eyes. Also, it was perhaps half an hour longer than it could have been so it dragged somewhat in places. But a very good film. 4/5