a dream cast to tell the story of the struggles and joys of teachers at a suburban college

After having staged medicine (which is his first profession) in Hippocrates (2014), then released as a series, Country doctor (2016), and First year (2018), Thomas Lilti plunges with this fifth feature film into the heart of another profession, that of a college professor. As in his previous films, the director dissects with a mixture of humor and seriousness the reality of a profession that we often associate, as with medicine, with the idea of ​​vocation, and to which all kinds of beliefs adhere. , clichés, preconceived ideas.

“Don’t put too much pressure on yourself, they are already lucky to have a teacher“. This is how the principal welcomes Benjamin (Vincent Lacoste, who brilliantly transitions from the role of apprentice doctor to that of apprentice teacher), a young doctoral student who is making his first return as a replacement mathematics teacher in a suburban college. His colleagues , a group of friendly teachers who stick together, shower him with diverse and varied advice. But he gradually understands that behind the assurance of his peers, often hide difficulties with the students, with the parents, with the inspectors…

For his part, the young beginning teacher, a little stressed, searches for “recipes” on the internet to strengthen his lessons and captivate his audience. And he’s doing pretty well. “I managed to create a bond with my students”he confides to Meriem (Adèle Exarchopoulos), his young colleague very comfortable in his class. Everything seems to be going well, until the day he finds himself confronted with violence from one of his students.

“There is wear and tear, loneliness and fatigue”

The film immerses us in the daily life of college. The classrooms, the canteen, the teachers’ room, the emergency attack exercises, the school trips… We share the concerns, the doubts, which persist even after decades of experience, as for Pierre, the old teacher of Frenchman at the end of his career (François Cluzet, excellent) constantly haunted by the fear of boring his students.

“Thanks to François, Pierre carries within himself a permanent questioning, the feeling that he could have been another teacher but also that his time is over. There is wear, loneliness and fatigue in his character but also a lot of kindness. Pierre watches over the other teachers. They are his family”explains the director in the presentation of the film.

Difficulties to which are added the absurdities of a system, but also the personal problems of everyone – single women raising their children for example – which must be left at the gates of the college to devote oneself fully to students sometimes difficult. We understand why it can happen that they break down, like Sandrine, a SVT teacher full of good will but in difficulty facing her students, played by a Louise Bourgoin with a very convincing subtle and internalized game.

But we also share the joys, the enthusiasm of these teachers whose passion remains strong despite the harshness of the profession, in direct contact with the social or family violence of students.

“No one has a vocation at the beginning”

Beyond a painting of the life of college teachers, A serious job, addresses the question of transmission, and education, in the broad sense. In the background we find themes dear to the director, such as the projection of parents’ desires onto their children.

The idea is synthesized in an eloquent scene between young Benjamin and his doctor father, who without batting an eyelid gives him all kinds of injunctions about his future, and all his contempt for the profession of professor. The idea is also present with Pierre, disappointed by his son who did not “successful” his preparation, “even though we did everything for him”.

What is education? What is the role of the teacher? These questions are at the heart of this new film by Thomas Lilti. During a disciplinary council, Benjamin manages, despite the violence of the situation, to convey something of respect to the “uncontrollable” boy blamed by his fault. But will this gesture be able to save him?

We hope so, while measuring the social burden which weighs more and more on the shoulders of teachers, responsible not only for teaching knowledge, but also for transmitting values. “No one has a vocation at the beginning”explains Pierre to Benjamin. “It happens when you are thrown into a college and then you discover that you belong.”

The truth of the film lies in the details, settings, care in the choice of costumes, hairstyles, accessories. By sketching the small moments of everyday life, the incongruities of the system but also the major issues of this place of learning, Thomas Lilti succeeds in a clever mixture of humor and seriousness, with a dream casting, an accurate portrait of this “profession serious”, often despised or shown in a caricatured manner in the cinema. A beautiful tribute.

The sheet

Gender : Drama
Director: Thomas Lilti
Actors: Vincent Lacoste, François Cluzet, Adèle Exarchopoulos
Country : France
Duration : 1h 41min
Exit : September 13, 2023
Distributer : The pact

Synopsis : It’s back to school. A new school year at the college which sees Pierre, Meriem, Fouad, Sophie, Sandrine, Alix and Sofiane, a group of committed and united teachers. They are joined by Benjamin, a young substitute teacher with no experience and quickly confronted with the hardships of the profession. Through contact with them, he will discover how much the passion for teaching remains alive within a weakened institution.