To Be and To Have

(I wrote all this quite eloquently, and then lost it in cyberspace, and recreations of eloquence are never as eloquent as eloquence itself, so forgive me.) To Be and To Have is the latest in my documentary viewings. I fell asleep the first time, but that's nothing new. I really enjoyed it the second time. It's about a teacher who teaches a bunch of kids in different grades all in the same room. A modern day one room schoolhouse, if you will. And it takes place in France. First things first, I'm and El Ed major who loves France, so I'm biased here. But let's get one thing straight. There's nothing cuter than kids, except for French kids. This one's a bit slow. In fact, in the opening scenes there is a shot of two turtles crawling across the empty classroom floor. In the bonus features, the director tells this shot was meant to be a hint at the pace of the film. So there you have it, it's slow. But when you know it's slow and can watch it for the sake of watching, it is pretty beautiful and enjoyable. There's no plot (I know, Neville hates that phrase, but I'll say it anyway) to make the documentary exciting. It's just simply taking a look inside a classroom. And it's pretty brilliant. The innocence and wonder and awe of children and the gloriousness of being a teacher are seen in every shot. The teacher is great. He is soft-spoken and mild-mannered and patient and caring and compassionate and all of this shines through very clearly. He is beautiful. There are plenty of memorable moments, especially if they include little JoJo. Discussing (and discovering) infinity, scrubbing hands clean, and trying desperately to hang up a poster that is larger than he is. And when the teacher says goodbye to the kids at the end of the year you want to give him a big hug. Some of the kids recite poetry in the bonus features and this is hilarious and beautiful; I recorded them to include their voices in some of my music. So, anyway, I liked this one a lot, but I don't expect you to. But, Neville, you like kids and French, and now you appreciate teaching, so as long as you arent expecting a thrilling plot-driven documentary, I'm pretty sure you'll love this too.