2011 · drama · comedy · political
Monsieur Lazhar
Directed by Philippe Falardeau1h 34m2011
During a harsh Montréal winter, an elementary-school class is left reeling after its teacher commits suicide. Bachir Lazhar, a charismatic Algerian immigrant, steps in as the substitute teacher for the classroom of traumatized children. All the while, he must keep his personal life tucked away: the fact that he is seeking political refuge in Québec – and that he, like the children, has suffered an appalling loss.
Our read: Monsieur Lazhar (2011) reads as a sombre, measured, grounded drama · comedy · political entry — gentle in intensity, intimate in scope, tender in temperature, ambivalent in outlook.
Sombre, measured, gentle drama / comedy, grounded in texture. Ambivalent, intimate, tender.
- sombre
- measured
- gentle
- tender
- intimate
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How Monsieur Lazhar feels to watch.
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“You want a gentle classroom healing story after devastating loss and hidden grief.”
Skip it tonight — Skip if teacher suicide and child grief will hit too close tonight.
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