F IS FOR FRANCE

I had once compared Bertrand Tavernier’s L.627 to The Wire: this other film by Tavernier completes the comparison, giving a glimpse into the life of a kindergarten in a mining town, and the school principal who tries to help his children, their parents and, ultimately, himself. Made me think a lot of Edouard Louis’s debut novel “The end of Eddy”, which I, honestly, couldn’t finish. It deals with a lot of the similar themes of disenfranchisement in working class France but is so unapologetically accusatory that I stopped reading. I hope there are more films like this, though. I’m not big on period dramas that he loved making but I’ve become quite fond of the social commentator Tavernier.

It All Starts Today (Ça Commence Aujourd’hui), 1999
Director: Bertrand Tavernier

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