Relationship In Entre Les Murs Directed By Laurent Cantet

The award-winning Entre les murs, directed by Laurent Cantet, follows the story of a difficult French language and literature class, but more specifically, the relationship between the class and their teacher Monsieur Marin. This relationship is often portrayed as strained and difficult but we are also shown a more pleasant side to it as well. The film has a documentary feel to it due to the use of a hand held camera, diegetic sound and a lack of music which is usually seen in films. Many techniques are used throughout the film to represent the relationship between François and the class including the use of dialogue and filming styles.

Both the pupils and teachers from Entre les murs are pupils and teachers in real life (Day 2009) which …show more content…
A close-up is of M. Marin is used to show his confusion when Esmeralda asks him why they say “imparfait indicative” (Entre les murs 2008), his expression is used to emphasise the fact he does not understand how Esmeralda does not know that the reason is to differentiate between the imperfect indicative and the imperfect subjunctive, which he then has to explain. Monsieur Marin tells the class that he uses the imperfect subjunctive all the time with his friends whereas the students say they would never use it. One boy believes that is it ‘posh’ to use the imperfect subjunctive and that it is only homosexuals that speak posh. The students believe that using this tense would make them sound stupid and they tell François that they do not know anyone who uses it. This suggests that Monsieur Marin is of higher social class than the students. This could cause him to believe that he is superior to them and this mind-set could put a massive strain on his relationship with the class, as no one likes to be made to feel inferior. Another reason that M. Marin may feel superior is that the students are from a more substandard area of France which can be seen by the language they use in comparison to François. Furthermore, this difference in class is also shown when Rabah tells Monsieur Marin that he was at a party with “jambon-beurre”, a term he uses to describe white, middle …show more content…
People are expected to behave in a polite and respectable way and use appropriate language however in this scene, the girls are not behaving in the expected manor and the teacher is not using appropriate language. The girls are being disrespectful of the teachers after disclosing information to their classmates, which was said in confidence in a meeting that the girls were invited to as class representatives. This causes further trouble between M. Marin and Souleymane, however, M. Marin’s use of “pétasse” is shocking as a teacher should never use this kind of language towards a student. This puts a massive strain on the relationship between Louise and Esmeralda and Monsieur Marin as they feel extremely disrespected by