Être et avoir (2002)

English Title: To Be and to Have
Description: This is a documentary about a rural elementary school in France. There is only one teacher in the film, who appears to be the only teacher in that school.
Appraisal: I was almost bored to death by this film. Some of the sequences are incredibly repetitive (kids performing arithmetic operations, etc.), others are simply uneventful (trees being shaken by the wind, etc.). There is no narration, and the film is much less informative than it could have been. I am totally sure that if its length were cut down to one fourth and they had some narration added, it would still retain the significant bits and be a nicer experience for the viewer. To be fair, the film apparently succeeds in achieving one of the most coveted characteristics in a documentary, namely, camera-unawareness by people who are being filmed. In this case, I mean only the children -- and to be honest I am sure about the smaller ones only, since some of the older ones looked suspiciously aware to me -- the teacher, and the other adults, are obviously aware of it all the time. Summing up my judgment on this film, it lacks selective and intelligent editing, and provocative and stimulating ideas.
Rating: 26