drz I said this was the best movie ever the day after I watched it and am still saying it a decade later (though I have not watched it lately) It is slowly but perfectly paced. The action tales place within, and at the end it serves up your hart on a silver platter... The catharsis is deep but not painful like in Pan's Labyrinth or Jacob's Ladder, this movie stole my heart without ripping it out my chest. Oh the plot and so on? Don't worry about that, you would not be watching this movie for "a plot" though will not miss it either if you seek humanity in cinema.

Red-125 Monsieur Lazhar (2011) is a French-Canadian film written and directed by Philippe Falardeau. As the movie opens, we learn that Bachir Lazhar (played by the talented Mohamed Fellag), an Algerian immigrant, has been hired to replace a teacher who has committed suicide.What I expected was a film about how, with gentleness and kindness, Mr. Lazhar overcame prejudice to give the students a better understanding of themselves and of this tragedy. However, the predictable film I had expected is not what the director has given us.Mr. Lazhar doesn't meet with much prejudice--from students, their parents, or his new colleagues. He is, indeed, gentle and kind, but there's much more to the movie than that. Lazhar is a complex character with a complex history. The situation surrounding the suicide of the teacher is complex as well. The interaction of these plot lines is what makes the film fascinating.This is definitely a movie worth seeking out and seeing. It's subtle and subdued, but never boring. We saw the film at the wonderful Dryden Theatre at Eastman House in Rochester. However, it should work almost as well on a small screen. Monsieur Lazhar is a work of art that demonstrates the importance of independent cinema in our culture. Try not to miss this one.

billcr12 A Canadian film, set in Quebec, deals with the sudden death by suicide of a popular teacher at a middle school, and the effect on the twelve year old students there. In need of a quick replacement, an Algerian immigrant is hired to take over the classroom. He connects with the children within a short time, and the drama is told from his and the kids perspective. This is a very subtle movie, with no sudden surprises, but just a quiet and thoughtful telling of the meaning of life and death, with outstanding performances from everyone involved. Mohamed Fellag is absolutely believable as the deeply caring Mr. Lazhar, a man who has sought refuge in Canada and wishes to have a profound impact on his classroom. He has escaped political persecution from Algeria and is forced to deal with bureaucracies, both at the school and from an immigration panel. Monsieur Lazhar well worth your time.

bandw A grade school in Quebec has unexpectedly lost a teacher. Mr. Lazhar, a recent immigrant from Algeria, aggressively pursues the vacant position and lands the job. What follows avoids the overt sentimentality frequently on display in the teacher vs. students genre. In fact there is a tendency to underplay the emotion, which I found to be effective.Lazhar gives no hint to his class that he is privately dealing with his own loss, but he is finely attuned to what the students are going through. He gently tries to encourage the students to talk about what has happened at the school, in spite of the official policy of trying to suppress any mention of it. An ongoing theme is to show how official school policies tend to block communication between student and teacher. Any sort of physical contact is forbidden, all the way from a gentle slap on the head, to a pat on the back, to (heaven forbid) a hug. I particularly liked how small scenes add context and depth, like the fifteen-second scene that shows the school janitor shooting hoops on the school grounds, or Lazhar doing exercises in his apartment while reading a book, or Lazhar drying clothes on a rack in his apartment. There are moving scenes such as the one where Lazhar looks at a photo of his children, inter-cut with images of some of his students, the implication being that his children and his students share a place in his mind. The editing is terse with scenes ending without unnecessary elaboration.The children, eleven and twelve year olds, are natural actors. Put me in front of a camera at that age and I would have been as stiff as a board. It amazed me that the main boy was so powerful in one of the climactic scenes. These kids are not little angels, but I suspect that most grade school teachers would envy how well behaved they are.The experiences that Lazhar has as an immigrant in a different culture provide an interesting subtext. He speaks French, but, according to the students, a prehistoric version. They delight in correcting him. There is a fantastic scene were, alone in his classroom and listening to music from a school party coming from another room, Lazhar does a subtle little dance that gives some insight into what he had been like in his native land. Some classical chamber music, as well as original music by Martin Léon, provide eloquent accompaniment for the overall restrained approach.This movie drew me in and fully engaged me from beginning to end.