Did anyone else think that the movie ended on a very pessimistic note with that scene???
shareNo, it was heartbreaking and unanswered. Then they went out and played some ball and laughed (her too), then the empty classroom. Powerful.
shareYes I think it was quite pessimistic.
I take it to mean that she had been completely ignored throughout the year and so had not learnt anything. That is to say, there are students who get lost in the system.
In addition to this girl who complains to the teacher, what about the other kids in his class that we also saw SLEEPING in his class???
He also completely IGNORES them as well which was also strange due to the way the entire class is forced to STAND UP when the PRINCIPAL or whatever they call him enters the room???
So why do they have these GOOFY kind of RULES of ETIQUETTE that they insist upon being ACKNOWLEDGED, yet they completely OVERLOOK how other kids are SLEEPING at their desks???
Still a Facinating film to watch though!!!
Also LOVED the scene where they attack the teacher for being a HONKY and using what they called WHITEY names.
Also LOVED the scene where they attack the teacher for being a HONKY and using what they called WHITEY names.
I loved that scene and I think it raises two things. The first was about what staff talked during the council ("Conseil de classe"): we're paying attention only to "bad" pupils and ignoring the good and quiet ones, what to me just means "Why would we even care or even dare deal with those students whose voice we never heard?". Within the begin of the film, Marin said to the shy pupil "You know, you can ask me as well..." then he totally forgers about her because after all she's not a problem, either troubles no one. In my opinion, then it just shows that teachers omit "invisible pupils".
The second thing is about something I read quickly somewhere else on this board, mixed-up with what I wondered when I was young: Am I learning something or am I just storing stuff in my brain? I guess it's the main difference between a Student and a Pupil, the first ones learn (they're aware) and the second doesn't (they store). So when a Pupil say he learned something (as they did in the last scenes), in fact he didn't, he's just reading something stored in his brain. The shy girl saying she didn't learn anything has understand this! She wanna learn and understand why she does, because as she said, "I don't get it, what's the point of all this stuff?"
Nice post. I'm a little confused by your final lines on the shy girl's learning but think you imply she is studying and learning in a way that cannot be reeled off so easily. In other words she's learning to think and process what she's being taught.
I felt sad when she approaches him so quietly at the end. Just as the teacher and film 'forgets' her throughout, so too had I. Then I struggled to recall the early classroom scene with her near the beginning of the film.
I give my respect to those who have earned it; to everyone else, I'm civil.share