THE CLASS

2008
Written by Francois Begaudeau, Robin Campillo and Laurent Cantet.
Directed by Laurent Cantet.
Based on the book by Francois Begaudeau.

4/5

From the title of the movie and the description on the back you go into the movie thinking you know what will happen, thinking this is another 'teacher wins over the students' kind of film. But that kind of plot is used when a film strives for entertainment leaving behind what actually happens in a classroom or a school. This is very realistic; you could be sitting at a desk at the side of the room and watching the schoolroom banter, and even at times trying to learn.

Set in a school that takes in children from the poorer areas of Paris that includes many immigrants this class is made up of a colorful and diverse array of students: a cocktail of many types that I had come across when at school. This is how we can relate to the movie; we have been in or seen many of the scenarios, the types of characters, and the methods used by certain teachers. Not necessarily in the same class but at some point in our education.

Mr. Marin, the teacher, never seems to get a hold on the class. Someone will always disagree, or not understand or they won't listen and will become preoccupied with something or someone else. And we may become irritated, just like the teacher or another student trying to learn, but we also understand not everyone in a class is equal. Not everyone can learn or wants to learn and certainly not everyone will learn, especially in such a mixed class as this. One teacher cannot suit everyone's learning capabilities or preferences. And this movie doesn't pretend that they can.

There are some questionable decisions as to the roles of some of the students which may have been used to nudge the story on, and the dialogue between the teachers is fairly stale after the lively classroom discussions, but for any student 'teacher-to-teacher' talk would most likely be boring too. What this movie ultimately represents is my six years of high school in one class, dealing specifically with the theme of identity and the battle between teacher and student respect. Some people will say they've had classes exactly like this, some like me will see it as a microcosm of their school-life, and others may not find it familiar at all; but there's no doubting its realistic simulation of the classroom.

STABBING WESTWARD

 'Self Titled'

Koch Records, 2001.

  3.5/5

Immediately after its release this album hit the nostalgia shelves. Its soft rock, dreamy quality and the break-up of the band made sure of this. Even when introducing this album I can say that if you haven't heard it before that there may not be any reason for listening to it. It is rock; not the crazy-lifestyle rock but the sappy, mellowish, wish-I-had-you-again rock. Of course, this is not always a bad thing - a lot of the time we're in those mellow moods and want something to complement them. Anything too loud is grating and anything too slow can bring an unwanted sense of melancholy. This is where Stabbing Westward come in. There is something uplifting about their sound that is perfect for the lying-on-your-bed method of listening to music. There are no ballads and no heavy tracks, everything here remains fairly constant which is often a bad thing (I like some experimentation and it can become tedious) but they play to their strength and it doesn't weary as the album is only a tad over 40 minutes long.

What does bring the album down is its generalness - there is nothing outstanding here, and this is where the nostalgic emotions charge the music with that 'something' it was missing. The song 'Television' is a throwaway but all others are worth the listen, namely 'Perfect', 'I Remember', 'Happy' and 'Angel'. In fact I could have just written all the tracks from the album and you could imagine how it sounds. For me, 'Happy' now has that added bonus of getting stuck in my head every time someone emphasises the word 'happy' in a sentence. It can be listening to these little things that bring the album up, but it is its lack of excitement and sappiness that also brings it down. If you can't 'feel' this album then you will likely cringe at it.

THE SOCIAL NETWORK

Screenplay by Aaron Sorkin
Directed by David Fincher
Based on the book "The Accidental Billionaires"
by Ben Mezrich
2010

4.5/5

Looking at the three reviews so far you would think I'm very generous with the scores, but this is not true, I have just been fortunate to have just seen a very good movie and recently read a very good book. This movie, 'The Social Network', has been receiving unprecedented praise and this naturally leads one to ask 'is it worth it?'. Well, a reserved yes. Reserved because I can't say that it will become an influential film, it certainly may become a classic film, but besides from a sharper (read quick intelligence) dialogue it doesn't offer anything new or open up new directions for cinema - aspects I would consider for overwhelming praise. What the film does do, however, is bring together its cinematography, screenplay, music, acting and all other cinematic elements in such an intelligent and entertaining way that is rarely seen in Hollywood movies.

To watch this movie you don't need to have facebook, in fact, you don't even have to care about it (of course these things will help as in-jokes and nods to teenage society are found throughout). This is not a movie for people with facebook, nor is it necessarily about it (at least in its effect on society), but rather it is about the creator/s. Basing it around the people involved means it becomes a film about 'real' relationships and not screen-to-screen ones. If Fincher decided to focus the film on the influence of facebook then it would have become a quasi-documentary. Instead it is a drama, with the screenplay echoing the rapid-fire dialogue seen in many plays (which isn't a surprise considering Sorkin is also a playwright). It certainly isn't natural speech but it didn't need to be. This isn't supposed to be a mirror of reality, it is too polished for that; instead it is a (loosely) true story represented as entertainment, and the witty dialogue is used to create the intellectual atmosphere of Harvard and its characters.

Jesse Eisenberg as Zuckerberg (the founder) does a great job as a person who has an idea and wants to create it himself. But for this he will have to rely on others. This is where Eduardo (played by Andrew Garfield) comes in with the money to finance it all. What Eduardo brings to the movie is what lifts it into the higher echelons of film: the delicacy and balance of human relationships. Without this it would be a nice movie, with a nice storyline that is nicely filmed. We get that from a lot of Hollywood productions (see Inception), but Sorkin and Fincher are able to add a depth and complication to the characters that ultimately drives the already interesting story. More than any other character, Eduardo is similar to us; he is down-to-earth, wants to make money and does not possess a freakish talent, and thus we can empathize with him. Zuckerberg is different from us, and this is what makes him a fascinating subject. We do not know what to make of him, and are left with the question posed throughout the movie: is he really an asshole?