Director: Nicholas Philibert
Starring: Georges Lopez, Alize, Axel, Johann, Johan, Guillemme
Running Time: 104 minutes
Certificate: U
Extras: Interview With Nicholas Philibert, Filmmaking Masterclass With Nicholas Philibert, Trailer
The array of documentaries make it difficult for us to be surprised but ETRE ET AVOIR succeeds. Director Nicholas Philibert (IN THE LAND OF THE DEAF) blends glorious visuals with the main event, a single room school in rural France. Inside teacher Georges Lopez and his students, ranging from 4 to 11, will make you laugh, smile, and cry.
With a tidy grey goatee and a turtle neck, Georges Lopez isn’t much to look at and you wouldn’t notice him in the street, but after watching ETRE ET AVOIR you will have the utmost respect for him. Like the younger children in the class, ETRE ET AVOIR is full of hope and a little innocence – the kids are often caught gazing into the camera with a mischievous look in their eyes – but Georges Lopez is the star: his dedication and love for the job is heartwarming and inspiring. When Philibert speaks with him briefly at the hour mark it is an incendiary five minutes as he speaks of his family and teaching.
Whilst ETRE ET AVOIR hasn’t particularly benefitted from this Blu-ray upgrade, 10-years from initial release it still has the power to inspire and make you realise that humanity still exists, particularly in an emotion packed last ten minutes. Impossible to watch without wishing you were one of the students, ETRE ET AVOIR should be essential viewing for anyone with aspirations to teach and if you don’t want to educate, watch it to be inspired by youth, warmth, and Mr Lopez. Just ignore all the controversy since its release!
Extras: The interview with director Philibert is a great insight into the making of ETRE ET AVOIR and how he overcame some issues associated with filming kids. The Masterclass is fantastic; from Edinburgh 2008 it is essential for aspiring documentary filmmakers looking not only at techniques, but inspiration.
ETRE ET AVOIR is released November 12th on Blu-ray
