Trickster

"Let's declare war! Long live rebellion! Liberty or death!" Jean Vigo's classic “Zero for Conduct” goes all-in. A total uprising against injustice in a French boarding school, against foolish teachers and baseless punishments. Three friends take to the barricades and write themselves into film history in just 44 minutes. 

“Zero for Conduct” is the starting point for school rebellion films, directly influencing François Truffaut's “The 400 Blows” and Lindsay Anderson's “If….”. The rebellion procession shot in slow motion is an unforgettable scene.  

Vigo also answered the question of how to become immortal: make just two films and leave this world as a true rebel at the age of 29.

“If…." is a bit like a horror film. Nothing explicitly grotesque happens, but there's plenty of fear. The repressive mechanisms of school shown are so commonplace that they become terrifying. And so absurd that it's almost comical. British New Wave auteur Anderson seems to suggest that this is the norm in schools—a marinade in which true Brits are made, stiff upper lip and all that. Malcolm McDowell makes the role of his life in his debut, and there's no doubt Stanley Kubrick chose him for “A Clockwork Orange” based on his performance.

“If….” showed that school is not some sacred place but an oppressive, enslaving institution. Broadly speaking, dismantling the school as an unshakable societal pillar was part of the late 1960s human rights revolution. It also reflected the waning of the British Empire: without it, there was no longer a need for the kind of imperialists who ran schools like colonies, nor for soldiers to protect those ideals at the cost of their lives on some far-flung isles.

The film received the Palme d'Or at Cannes.

See: Apple TV

What makes “Spring” special, aside from being a film of our own, is that while school films typically portray school as a regressive system to rebel against, “Spring” takes a more positive view of the system, even making it possible to sympathize with such an unpleasant character as Köster - the school curate. We see school as a supportive structure that allows individuals to grow into the people we later see in “Summer” and “Autumn” - generally hardworking, good Estonians. Such an approach is surprisingly rare compared to the globally known school films. School is typically not considered "cool," but in “Spring,” it somehow manages to be.  

See: Arkaader

Iranian master Kiarostami’s full-length documentary consists solely of interviews with elementary school students, whom Kiarostami questions with the strictness of a school principal. He was inspired to make the film by his struggles with helping his son with homework and the fact that school assignments are often meant to be done with parents.  

Even with such a simple story, Kiarostami showcases his directing talent: the conversation reveals that parents often treat homework as exams themselves, and when they don't know the answers or how to help, they project their frustration onto the children. Perhaps you do the same?

While Ilmar Raag’s “The Class” could easily have made this list, we’re referring here to the French film by Laurent Cantet, which portrays the daily life of a school class as a sort of microcosm, a model of the world with all its conflicts and peculiarities. It is a refreshingly non-judgmental and sharply dialogued film, which won the Palme d’Or at Cannes in 2008, just a year after Ilmar Raag’s picture premiered. Cantet revisited the school theme in his movie “The Workshop” (“L’atelier,” 2017), but sadly passed away this April.

In contrast to the countless dumb American high school comedies, “Booksmart” is unexpectedly clever. It tackles the genre's clichés one by one, overturning them in ways that a viewer chilling in their comfort zone wouldn't expect. The leads, Jonah Hill's even funnier younger sister Beanie Feldstein and Kaitlyn Dever, have already earned Emmy and Golden Globe nominations for their TV work. And surprisingly, this is actress Olivia Wilde’s directorial debut. Some people know how to make their mark right away.  

See: Amazon Prime Video

This 3.5-hour-long film about teacher Dieter Bachmann stands out among the more recent classroom documentaries. His honorable task is to guide a highly multicultural class in a small German industrial town, Stadtallendorf, where relations with newcomers from other countries have always been somewhat strained. But this film isn't about banal racism; these long-standing tensions merely provide the backdrop for the events. “Mr. Bachmann and His Class” is a master course in understatement: we only see teaching and the work of one dedicated teacher. Every school deserves a teacher like this, so as we start the school year, let’s try to appreciate the efforts of these extraordinary people who voluntarily stand in front of a class to pass on something valuable.  

Director Maria Speth was awarded the Silver Bear (Jury Prize) and the Audience Award at Berlinale.