Monsieur Lazhar (2011)

Editor's Note A teacher and his students learn from one another in the wake of a tragedy in this drama from director Philippe Falardeau. Simon (Emilien Neron) and Alice (Sophie Nelisse) are a pair of grade-school students who make a shocking discovery one day when they witness their teacher taking her own life in their classroom. The school's principal (Danielle Proulx) wants things back to normal as soon as possible, and when substitute teacher Bachir Lazhar (Mohamed Fellag) drops off his resume after learning of the tragedy, he's hired almost on the spot. The children don't immediately take to Lazhar, since most of them have never had a male teacher before, and Lazhar has his own adjustments to deal with -- he's an Algerian immigrant new to Montreal, he's still learning the finer points of Quebecois French, and his teaching style differs from that of his new colleagues. But as Lazhar tries to guide Simon, Alice, and their classmates through the shock of what has happened, he also finds the experience helps him heal after struggling with a loss of his own. MONSIEUR LAZHAR (aka BACHIR LAZHAR) won the Audience Award at the 2011 Locarno Film Festival and was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the 2012 Academy Awards.

	Danielle Proulx
	Francine Ruel
	Mohamed Fellag
	Sophie Nelisse
	Emilien Neron
	Brigitte Poupart
	Louis Champagne
	Jules Philip
	Sophie Sanscartier
	Marie-Eve Beauregard
	Louis-David Leblanc
	Vincent Millard - Co-Star
	Nico Lagarde - Co-Star
	Seddik Benslimane - Host
	Marie Charlebois - Co-Star
	Evelyne DeLaCheneliere - Co-Star
	Andre Robitaille - Co-Star
	Daniel Gadouas - Co-Star
	Stephane Demers - Co-Star
	Sylvain Bellemare - Sound
	Pierre Bertrand - Sound
	Philippe Falardeau - Screenwriter
	Mathieu Beaudin - Sound
	Carole Doucet - Assistant Director
	Ronald Plante - Director of Photography
	Bernard Gariepy-Strobl - Sound
	Evelyne DeLaCheneliere - Source Writer
	Martin Leon - Composer
	Erik Daniel - Post-Production Supervisor
	Philippe Falardeau - Director

Entertainment Weekly
"[T]he movie's tonic lack of sentimentality binds the various griefs together into something moving." -- Grade: B 04/20/2012

Wall Street Journal
"What makes the film enthralling is the wisdom and grace with which it addresses the twin subjects of grief and healing, and the quiet beauty of Mohamed Fellag's performance in the title role." 04/13/2012

Los Angeles Times
"Artfully put together by writer-director Falardeau, MONSIEUR LAZHAR shows us life in the round, illustrating the way humor, compassion and tragedy can all be elements of experience. Its emotional honesty is heartening..." 04/13/2012

Box Office
4 stars out of 5 -- "[A] touching, wise and humanistic portrait....With a wonderful central performance by Mohammed Fellag as the title character and a terrific script..." 04/12/2012

New York Times
"MONSIEUR LAZHAR sustains an exquisite balance between grown-up and child?s-eye views of education, teacher-student relations and peer-group interactions." 04/13/2012

Total Film
4 stars out of 5 -- "[A] shrewd look at classroom etiquette and an achingly sad study of grief stricken solitude, built on ace performances by Fellag and the kids..." 06/01/2012

Chicago Sun-Times
3.5 stars out of 4 -- "Its purpose is to present us with a situation, explore the people involved and show us a man who is dealing with his own deep hurts." 04/15/2012

Sight and Sound
"[T]he film's gently uncompromising take on grief, rage, responsibility and adult-child interaction has much to recommend it, and the performances are sincere and impactful." 06/01/2012