:
Georges Lopez
:
Nicolas Philibert
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: New Yorker Video
: Documentary, Foreign, Biographies, France
: 104 min.
: French
: English
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The one-room schoolhouse, where one teacher instructs several grades at once, is generally regarded a quaint thing of the past and a symbol of obsolete and ineffective teaching methods. However, the documentary To Be and to Have offers an in-depth look at a small school in rural France where one remarkable man has been doing the job of a small teaching staff for 20 years, and has taught several generations of bright and capable children along the way. Georges Lopez is an educator at a small school in France's Auvergne region, where between December 2000 and June 2001 he taught 12 students between the ages of four and ten. Employing a curriculum that embraces both academics and practical skills, Lopez and his school represent a surprising mix of the old and the new, where computer technology and old-fashioned memorization of the multiplication tables sit side by side. To Be and to Have captured Georges Lopez near the end of his career in education -- shortly after the film was completed, he retired after 35 years as a teacher. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
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| Teacher, teacher!
by talltale
October 22, 2004 - 3:24 PM PDT
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7 out of 8 members found this review helpful
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| When I began watching the French documentary TO BE AND TO HAVE, my first reaction was anger that anyone would dare show a classroom with half a dozen kids, as though this were even vaguely representative of "normal" education: what students--as well as teachers--must put up with day-to-day in classes that number 30 or more. But soon I was completely won over by this wonderful teacher and his group of students. The school combines both very young and older children, so the older help the younger--a concept we simply don't see in our highly segregated (by age, if not by race) schools. There is one little Asian girl here (and, later, her brother); otherwise, the kids are white. But in the French countryside, that's evidently the norm. What this movie gives you is a close look at someone who loves teaching and how his love--plus skill and talent--is translated into helping children grow and learn. While this is an exceedingly quiet film, your attention and concentration will pay off. I suspect that mainstream audiences (those who prefer shoot-em-ups, car chases and Adam Sandler comedies) will not place this one atop their queue. But for anyone who cares about kids and teaching, TO BE AND TO HAVE is a "must." If you enjoy the film, watch the interview with the director, as well as the short section of "Poetry," in which the kids simply read a poem. Both are lovely additions to the dvd. |
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GreenCine Member Rating
(Average 7.24)
51 Votes
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