Monsieur Lazhar: Tragedy – A Nuanced Approach

You’ve likely not heard of this little Canadian film. It was nominated for an Academy award but as the nominated selections for the foreign film category are usually very far from mainstream, this one slipped through the cracks last year. But now it is out in limited release, and if your tastes run deeper and softer than the current blockbuster offerings, then you should see it.

Monsieur Lazharis a small film about Monsieur Lazhar (Mohamed Fellag), an Algerian refugee who takes over a teaching position in the place of a teacher who hung herself in the middle of the school year. No teachers were willing to take the job and so Monsieur Lazhar sees an opportunity. He talks the lead administrator of the school into hiring him on. He has difficulty adjusting because he expects too much of his class. For example, he has them do recitations from Balzac when the class has been reading Jack London. And beyond the difficulty with their grade level, these students recognize Lazhar as an outsider and treat him with a snarky attitude. Lazhar knows this is because the adults that have “handled” the teacher suicide situation won’t actually let the kids talk. The adults are uncomfortable with death and would prefer that it all be swept under the rug. But the kids are bursting at the seams emotionally, and so Lazhar must navigate these opposing forces.

Monsieur Lazhar is himself suffering from a tragedy. He is an Algerian refugee, but it is not exactly made clear as to why at the beginning of the film. There are several hearings he must appear at in order to officially be granted asylum from Canada, and we learn of his plight from these. And through them we see that he understands the kids’ suffering because he himself is also suffering. Perhaps this was the reason he took the position on in the first place, so they could grieve together? It’s an interesting idea.

Lazhar must also deal with the alienation of being newly alone in a world completely foreign to him. He is welcomed by the male contingent of the school staff—now there are three of them. And the pleasant, attractive, and successful teacher from the next classroom over has perchance taken a romantic interest in him that he is perhaps not yet ready to pursue. She, in welcoming him, tries to make him feel at ease with Algerian music and appetizers, but this actually makes things a bit more awkward as she’s pointing out his foreignness with these gestures. There are also moments in the classroom and with the school’s lead administrator where people constantly tell him how things are done. His methods are different and shot down in place of a modern system that feels restrictive to him, and in his mind, harmful to the children.

Eventually, the film divulges Lazhar’s tragedy, and we get to see what is really going on with the kids who have been dealing with their former teacher’s suicide, but the effects are not bombastic. This film is nuanced in its approach to serious and large subject matter, and it remains small despite some of the heart rending choices that is discusses.

Over all, this film was a pleasant watch, and I enjoyed living with these characters for a couple hours. It was also refreshing to see the setting be within a French Canadian province. It’s a world not frequently featured in cinema. So catch Monsieur Lazhar if you like educational dramas, or soft tragedies, or interesting and sometimes sad characters.