Similar to Laurent Cantent’s 2008 Oscar nominee The Class, School of Babel is Julie Bertuccelli’s follow up to the The Tree.
The loss of identity and the ‘difference and similarity’ between the world’s cultures is the theme of this touching documentary, Bertuccelli opening proceedings with a girl writing her name on a blackboard while her classmates offer up their different ways of saying hello. Shot over the course of a year, School of Babel explores the trials and tribulations of Egyptian, Libyan, Ukranian, Japanese, Sri Lankan, Belarussian, Brazilian students as they take part in a ‘reception class.’ The task at hand for teacher Brigitte Cervoni is to ensure their level of French comes up to a certain standard so they can join regular classes.
They talk about their experiences of moving to Paris, the differences between the French capital and their home towns and cities, how difficult it is to settle in, and the resistance they are confronted with by French-speaking nationals: the kids - ranging from about twelve to sixteen - are treated as poor, the untouchable, mocked for their seemingly meagre grasp of their adopted language (it looks like they are well on the way to mastering it, however). Some are here sans parents, entrusted to guardians and distant relatives.
While these heartfelt confessions of the students are engaging, it’s the parent-teacher meetings that form the backbone of the documentary. With the child sitting silent as the parent/guardian converses with the teacher we get a real insight into their home lives. One family has to move from hostel to hostel and another, the daughter of diplomats, has been shunted around Europe, forced to learn a new language as she goes. It’s here that the pressure of a new life extends beyond the kids to the parents; one woman smiles as she openly admits that she has found living here very hard.
Tender and touching – there’s nothing like a struggling child to pull at the heart strings – but Julie Bertuccelli, who explored similar themes of disconnect and parental loss in 2010’s The Tree, The School of Babel can fall into repetition.
