MOVIE: 2 Days In Paris

If there ever was a great self-indulgent dark comedy about mediocre love, this is it. From 2007, 2 Days In Paris is the story of a couple, American Jack (Adam Goldberg) and Marion (Julie Delpy), who is French but lives in New York, and their two days in Paris following a relationship-testing trip to Venice.

Written and directed by Delpy, the film looks at the facets that make up a relationship and how they are often illuminated once the people involved are out of their comfort zones. In this case, Jack, an interior designer and ruler of the sarcastic world, who knows no French has taken to snapping many photographs while adjusting to the idea that his girlfriend of two years has had many boyfriends before him and, in France, it is not uncommon to stay friends with one's ex. Marion, a professional photographer, is wrestling with the idea of her boyfriend being the one taking pictures all of sudden and, in the presence of he hometown and past-lovers, coming to the realization that Jack might be the one she stays with.

While much of the humor stems from cross-cultural errors and missteps, along with Goldberg's expected and often spastic delivery of his lines, the entire film wreaks of intelligent-real life comedy. Delpy has a clear talent for satirizing the events in everyday life as well as in bumpy relationships. Even her crude humor has a hint of class to it. Screaming to Jack from the side of the very public river promenade during one argument, Marion shouts, "

Classic. I'm sure this movie is in some Walmart bargain bin. Go rescue it now!

Sergio del Limónar

MOVIE: Entre Les Murs (The Class)

As a teacher, I am sometimes frustrated with the portrayal of classroom life in movies. Entre Les Murs (literally "Between the Walls") is probably the first film I've seen where all the interactions, dialogue, and situations are accurately represented.

"The Class," as it is know in English, is a French production directed by Laurent Cantet and the winner of the Palme d'Or at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival. Set at a diverse inner city public high school in Paris, the story follows an academic year in French teacher François Marin's classroom. Played by novelist and actor François Bégaudeau, he is a caring but challenging teacher, who tries to be sympathetic to the tough lives of his students while, at the same time, pushing them to learn and achieve. The students, many who do not consider themselves "French" and therefore see no merit in learning the formalities of the language, often challenge him back and, as we all do, François occasionally reaches a breaking point.

What I liked about this movie, aside from the realism of classroom life, was how it shows the sometimes daily punishment for little pay many educators put up with for and from the kids they want to help. Another remarkable thing about the film is that, although it is scripted, the "students" are not trained actors and the movie feels almost more like a documentary than anything else. The faculty meetings also could not be more accurately executed.

In true "French film" style the story wanders around a bit and there are obviously subtitles so reading is required, especially with the amount of slang used by some of the characters, but the experience is worth it, in a bittersweet way.

Sergio del Limonar