Entre Les Murs Analysis

Overview

The Class, or by the original title Entre les murs, is an autobiographical film about former French language and literature teacher Francois Begaudeau. Begaudeau plays himself in the film as Mr. Marin, who teaches at an ethnically mixed high school in the inner city of Paris, France. Mr. Marin teaches a group of 14 and 15-year-old students, who are smart but very argumentative and confrontational. Mr. Marin spends a lot of class time disciplining, and battling the students about different topics. One violent situation in class led to expulsion for one of his problematic students, against Mr. Marin wishes. In general, the film highlights some of the challenges teachers face in teaching students at inner city schools (Cantet 2008 and

The Class 2008).
The main characters in the film are Mr. Marin, Esmeralda, Khoumba, Souleyman and Wei. Mr. Marin is the French teacher who is considerably liked by the students, although they often challenge his authority. Esmeralda is an Arab student that is smart but combative. She is one of the students that find joy in challenging Mr. Marin’s authority. Esmeralda is also one of the class representatives on the student evaluation committee. Khoumba is good friends with Esmeralda, and exhibits some of the same behavior. She can be described as smart, but moody. Some days she wants to participate, and others, she does not. In one particular situation she refuses to read aloud in class, which results in her getting in trouble. Souleyman is an African student from Mali that is disruptive and always unprepared for class. He has issues at home that affect his class work and behavior. Souleyman is involved in a violent incident that leads to his expulsion from school. Finally, Wei is a quiet Chinese student that is well liked by teachers. He is smart, but struggles in French. Wei can be considered different from the other students because he is “well behaved”. Wei has illegal immigrant parents, and his mother gets caught by immigration, and may be deported back to China (Cantet 2008 and The Class 2008).
Cultural Dynamics
Cultural dynamics can be described as the interaction between different groups of people. In the film, the students are ethnically diverse; most students are from African, Caribbean, Moroccan, Turkish, and Chinese descent. In the class, some kids can be described as loud and argumentative, and others quiet. During one scene the students were discussing and sharing examples of when and why they felt ashamed. Wei said he was ashamed of young people. He was ashamed of how shameful the other students behaved. He considered them to be loud, wild and disrespectful. However, Wei probably felt this way because of cultural differences. Wei is Asian, and people in Asian cultures can are seen as reserved, strict and quiet. So, Wei believed that his classmate behaved wildly possibly based on his cultural values and beliefs. Since the students’ backgrounds are so diverse, they interacted with each other differently based on their culture. Some people may disagree or frown upon the way someone does things based on their values and beliefs (Cantet 2008).
The Work “Shank”
Esmeralda and Louise are the class representatives on the evaluation committee, in which teachers discuss students’ behavior and work ethic. The job of class representatives’ is to speak on student’s behalf, and possibly give insight into certain situations brought up during the discussion. After the meeting, Esmeralda told the other students what was said about them, and the grades they were given. Souleyman, who was heavily discussed, took offense to what Esmeralda told him about the meeting. He seemed to be very upset, and hurt by what Mr. Marin said. In return, Mr. Marin was upset with Esmeralda and Louise for their indiscretion. He also, did not appreciate their behavior during the meeting, and said they acted like “shanks”. The two girls became very defensive, and Souleyman intervened. Souleyman felt like calling them “shanks” was very disrespectful, and became angry. Mr. Marin and Souleyman exchanges were intense, and eventually caused Souleyman to become angrier, and wanted to leave class. While one student tried to stop him, Soulymen accidently hit Khoumba in the face and caused her to bleed (Cantet 2008).
Esmeralda and Louise reported to one of the administrators that Mr. Marin called them “shanks” which to them means prostitutes. They wanted him to be punished for his actions, just as they would be if they did something disrespectful. Mr. Marin’s defense was he used the word vaguely not literally. He attempted to use the word to describe their behavior during the meeting. He said he did not actually say they were “shanks” but rather they were acting like it. Souleyman probably interpreted it in the same way the girls did. He thought Mr. Marin was disrespectful for his choice of words.

Disciplinary Hearing
A disciplinary hearing was held for Souleyman to decide whether he should be expelled for the incident that left one of his classmates bloody. People present during the hearing were the disciplinary committee, which is comprised of teachers, faculty members, and two student representatives, and Souleyman and his mother. The principal read the report stating what happened, which was written by Mr. Marin, who also served on the committee. Some teachers felt it was inappropriate for Mr. Marin to be apart of the committee since his comment initiated the incident. However, it was concluded that his comment does not justify Souleyman actions, and therefore is irrelevant. In conclusion, it was decided that Souleyman would be expelled (Cantet 2008).

The cultural dynamic of the disciplinary hearing involved a language barrier between Souleyman’s mother and the committee. Souleyman’s mother does not speak and understand French very well. During the hearing, Souleyman had to translate his mother’s words, and the committee’s final decision. Since his mother does not speak French, it made the conversation somewhat unfair and awkward. The hearing can be considered unfair because it seemed like Souleyman’s mother was not a part of the conversation. Although, she was aware of the reason she was there, the language barrier possibly prevented her from knowing the details of the incident from the schools’ point of view. The hearing can be seen as awkward because his mother could not fully involve herself in the conversation because she does not speak French. Although, Souleyman did translate for her, I think it would have been more passionate and meaningful actually coming from her. Also, if she could speak the language, or if someone there spoke her language, she probably would have pleaded more for Souleyman not to be expelled (Cantet 2008).

Mr. Marin’s Sexual Orientation
Apparently, Souleyman heard a rumor that Mr. Marin is gay. He said aloud in class that he heard Mr. Marin liked men. Instead of being upset about the rumor, Mr. Marin handled it in a calm manner. He turned the situation around on Souleyman, as if he was asking because he thought it was weird, which shifted the attention from Mr. Marin to Souleyman. Overall, Mr. Marin handled the situation very calmly. Some teachers, whether it was true or not, would have possibly gotten upset and offended. However, Mr. Marin was pretty cool about it, which makes him a likeable teacher (Cantet 2008).

Impression of Mr. Marin
I would describe Mr. Marin as approachable, patient and humorous. Mr. Marin had a personality and demeanor that I think works well with inner city students. Typically, in inner city schools, the students are somewhat challenging, and need teachers who are equipped to deal with their strong personalities. Mr. Marin was very open-minded and approachable. The students were able to have an open dialogue with him that allowed them to share their thoughts and opinions. The students also felt comfortable enough in his class, to answer questions, even if they were wrong. Feeling comfortable enough to answer questions in class is very important because most of the time when students say the wrong answer it discourages them from answering again. But, Mr. Marin did not ridicule them, and he encouraged them to try again (Cantet 2008).
Mr. Marin spent the majority of his time disciplining, and trying to get the students back on track. However, he rarely showed his frustration, and remained very patient. Mr. Marin also had a great sense of humor. When the students made jokes, he laughed and even made a few as well. This made him relatable to the students, and fun to be around. I think all teachers should have these traits because it makes it easier for students to open up to them, and feel comfortable asking and answering questions (Cantet 2008).
Implications from the Film
Based on the storyline, the importance of multicultural education can be learned from the film.

The students in the film are culturally different, and have various views, opinions, beliefs and needs. Their culture, and home life affect their behavior and attitudes in and out of class. This is true for most students, especially in inner city schools when everyone is diverse, and end up together in one class. In one scene, Rhoumba and Esmeralda did not like that Mr. Marin used “whitey” names such as Bill in his examples. They wanted to hear names that were culturally familiar. This example can teach teachers the importance of making sure their students’ culture is represented somehow in the class. Something as simple as using a specific name in the examples is important to students who are often left out of the curriculum. Another example is when the students expressed what they were ashamed of, and many students said they were ashamed of their culture differences. This is a learning moment for teachers because cultural differences could affect how their students see themselves, and that celebrating and including their culture in the classroom could have an effect on their attitudes and self-esteem. Overall, teachers can learn how important it is for students to feel represented in the class, and that culture plays a big part in student’s

perspective.