“Monsieur
Lazhar” was nominated for a Best Foreign Film Oscar, submitted by
Canada, taking place in Montreal, spoken in French with subtitles.

The
film opens with Simon (Emilien Neron) and Alice (Sophie Nelisse),
students in middle school, separately see their favorite teacher hanging
from a beam in their classroom before the other students enter school.

Bachir
Lazhar (Mohamed Fellag) reads about what happened in the newspaper and
applies for the teacher’s position with the principal Mrs. Vaillancourt
(Danielle Prouix) who hires him on the spot. Lazar is an immigrant from
Algiers who claims to have been a teacher there for 19 years and
obviously loves to teach and reaches out to the traumatized students.

The
film asks a lot of questions but doesn’t necessarily supply all the
answers. We learn that Lazhir is not exactly who he says he is. We
follow the school children as they go through therapy, argue as to why
the teacher committed suicide and why she did it in school. The subjects
of teachers faced with a zero tolerance rule regarding touching a
student whether it be to console, to train in gymnastics or to
discipline is discussed as is violence in school and society touched
upon, some more deeply than others. The role of a teacher in a child’s
life is brought up and how a parent sees the teacher is said by the
father of one who tells Lazhir that he doesn’t want the teacher to raise
his child, just teach her.

It
is difficult to talk about any of the above subjects without giving
away important parts of the film which you are better off experiencing
as they happen.

The
acting by the children is natural, moving, without a false note. The
adults are completely believable and Mohamed Fellag, as “Monsieur
Lazhar”,  stands out with a quiet yet forceful performance.

The
film is directed and written by Philippe Falardeau with passion,
delicacy and insight to children’s minds. The only misstep is the
introduction of a needless flirtation made by a teacher towards Lazhir.
All aspects of production are first rate.

The one complaint I have about the film is that at an hour and thirty four minutes it is too short!