Être et avoir

I can't say much about the film except that I love it. I don't want to come across like a 12 year old fan club president, but oh well. The main problem I have with many contemporary documentaries these days is that they tend to go for maximum entertainment, and little else. Overly slick, often gimmicky in nature, with flash editing and a cynical tone, they are instantly forgotten (i.e. Super Size Me, Inside Deep Throat, Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room, among many many others)

To be and To have, beyond entertaining is an INSIGHTFUL look into us as human beings, I know I know, a movie about the human condition, sounds corny or worse dull but it is far from either of those adjectives. The film follows a class of kinder gardeners in the French rural countryside for a year. It is both profound and simple to watch these children learn the everyday lessons of life. Even more amazing is that it does so without becoming overly sentimental or sugary. The film's point of view inevitably takes on that of a five year old, finding magic and greatness in the everyday mundane aspects of life. Highlights: When the teacher explains the concept of infinity to the children. Marie and Jojo in general are a delight. The handwriting lesson as insight into personality. I could go on and on. Just see it

Teaching is a gift, a talent and it can not be taught-sure, people can be taught at universities about the particulars of teaching but the guts of teaching is something that imbues an adult with the warmth of dealing with young people. Georges Lopez has that talent, that gift and this beautiful film allows adults to see what happens in something we all participate in but rarely have a chance to observe after we are adults.

I found the film to be mesmerizing with it's reflections on the beauty and innocence of childhood as well as the little insights into French rural life all held together with the "glue" provided by the teaching of Lopez with his powerful personality. The beauty of this personality and his extraordinary attitude towards the children in his care are the parts of this wonderfully warm documentary that linger with me after viewing the film.

A person feels so humbled after watching a master at work and we must question our society's values when a man of this talent can beaver away unknown in deep pockets in urban and rural settings under valued by our society while others with far less to contribute are valued to a degree beyond worth.

Greetings again from the darkness. Wonderful, award-winning documentary about George Lopez and his one room school house in rural France. So many thoughts rush through the viewer's head as we watch this incredibly patient man battle through the daily challenges of teaching kids ages 4 to 12. Young Jojo will win your heart as the eager to play boy who would undoubtedly be subjected to doses of Ridlin in the U.S. Jojo's charm and openness are in stark contrast to the older children who seem to keep their emotions pent up to play along with the expectations of maturity. Personalities are obvious by age 4 or 5 and we have no trouble looking forward to see the type of teens and adults they will become. This environment offers so many advantages to the "pack 30 in a classroom and demand robotic behavior" that has become the norm in our education system. Teachers have become disciplinarians by force rather than life educators like Mr. Lopez. Yes, I laughed many times during this one, but only as my heart was breaking while dreaming of what could be for kids. The scenes with the families are torturous to watch and should provide insight into how many parents undermine even the best teachers. Should be required viewing for all parents and teachers. We should all ask ourselves, "what is the point of taking the eagerness and desire learn away from kids?"

Named as one of the best films of 2002 in the Film Comment poll of 59 international film critics, To Be and To Have provides an insight into the learning process of thirteen children, ages 4 to 10, in a one-room schoolhouse during a seven-month period. The film is a tribute to the innocence of childhood and to the dedication of their teacher, 55-year old George Lopez. Director Nicolas Philibert selected Lopez' rural schoolhouse in the Auvergne region of southeast France from a list of 300 schools. As Philibert explained: "I wanted a school with a limited number of pupils so that each child would be easily identifiable and become a character in the film. I also wanted the fullest age range possible -- from kindergarten to the final year of primary school -- to show the atmosphere and charm of these small, eclectic communities and the very specific work required from the teachers."

Filming almost 600 hours of the children's daily activities with a crew of four, Philibert allows us to re-experience the long forgotten frustrations of learning how to trace letters, express our feelings verbally, count until we run out of numbers, and get along with our classmates. Mr. Lopez has taught in the same school for twenty year and has a unique ability to simply be with and respect children for who they are and what they say. He is a model of patience and an example of how to listen without making moral judgments or instant evaluations. He says of the teaching profession, "It takes time and personal involvement and the children return that again and again." Most of the children come from families who are not well educated but the film shows the parents struggling to do their best to solve the mysteries of their child's homework. To Be and To Have is also filled with humor as in a sequence when two very young students are fighting a losing battle with a photocopier and when a student insists on using the word "pal" instead of "friend". Much time is spent observing a pre-schooler named Jojo with a very typical attention span. He is endearing but I would have liked a bit more exploration of Katherine who we find out at the end has a serious problem in communicating.

Mr. Lopez works closely with each child, showing sensitivity in the way he handles problems as when he asks two fighting students to imagine the effect their behavior has on others. Time and again he mediates disputes by helping children to communicate with each other as in the scene where he assists two older boys, Julien and Olivier, in understanding the reasons they got into a fight. "You were just testing each other, but then it degenerated, no?" he asks. The film begins in December with footage of snow falling on a herd of cows and continues until the following Summer. By the end we have come to know many of the students. When the teacher announces he is going to retire in another year, the emotion on his face when the children plant kisses on his cheek as they say goodbye for their vacation was felt throughout the entire audience of 800 people. To Be and To Have celebrates the dedication of teachers whose unacknowledged labors make a profound difference in the lives of our children. A film of warmth and humanity, it is the highest grossing French documentary of all time. Job well done, Mr. Lopez and Mr. Phlibert.

A stunning document on the nature of education as captured in beautiful, impressionistic pulses. The sights, the sounds; a construction of utmost simplicity whose structure, diaphanous and fluid, ignores commentary in favor of the subtleties of humanity, maturation and interaction that emerge from the froth of randomness that tethers each day to the next.

"Être et Avoir," the title, is presumably a reference to the two most important verbs used (and the earliest learned) in both French and English, "To be and To have," echoing the film's theme of capturing the struggle to acquire knowledge and, eventually, the struggle to impart it.