Le Maître d'école (1981)
Directed by Claude Berri

Film Review

Coluche's star was very much in the ascendant when director Claude Berri collaborated with him on Le Maître d'école, in the made-to measure role of an unorthodox primary school teacher.  Made in the very year that Coluche, the most prominent French comedy performer of the decade, put himself up for the French presidency, the film was intended both as a vehicle for its star performer and also a gentle piece of social commentary, reflecting concerns about the state of the French educational system (which, at the time, was long overdue for reform).

The film was a notable hit with the cinemagoing French public and attracted an impressive audience of 3.1 million, the most successful film that Berri had directed up until this point.  After this first collaboration, Berri and Coluche immediately went on to work together on an even more successful film, one in which the loveable clown proved his credentials as a serious dramatic actor, Tchao Pantin (1983).  After this, Berri went on to even greater success, packing audiences in with  his lavish superproductions, Jean de Florette (1986) and Germinal (1993).  

Adapted from a book entitled Journal d'un éducastreur by Jules Celma, Le Maître d'école is not a particularly sophisticated film, nor is it laugh-out-loud funny.  In fact the script is pretty tame, falling back on well-worn clichés wherever it can and making scant effort to address the underlying deficiencies of the education system beyond the blatantly obvious.  It's charm lies entirely in its lead performer, whose innate warmth and humanity make him an arresting personality and fine representative for those selfless, inspiring individuals who devote themselves to teaching in state schools for a pittance.

The humour is of a much gentler, far less bawdy kind than we find in most of Colouche's other films (particularly the ones he made for Claude Zidi), and so the film is far  more acceptable to a family audience.  The most engaging scenes are those set in the classroom, where Coluche allows his wise-beyond-their-years pupils to steer a discussion into areas where a wiser schoolteacher would be less likely to venture.  It's a sign of the times that such topics have now become compulsory in most schools.   Le Maître d'école has charm and deserves credit for its efforts to raise awareness of genuine well-founded concerns about education, but today it feels somewhat laboured and shallow.  Coluche's good-natured presence makes up for this to a degree,  and its one other selling point is a delightful closing song from Alain Souchon.

Film Synopsis

Gérard Barbier is a man in his early thirties who likes to look on the bright side of life.  Working as a shop assistant, he feels inclined to take the side of a child who is caught in the act of stealing some footwear.  For this act of generosity, he loses his job and thereupon makes up his mind to follow a different career option - as a teacher at a primary school.  In spite of the fact that the job is badly remunerated and incredibly taxing Gérard throws himself into his new profession with gusto.  Obviously, he is given no training, but his natural rapport with youngsters and his joy of teaching make up for this and he somehow manages to survive his first few hellish days in front of the blackboard.

Gérard soon finds he hasn't just unruly and demanding children to cope with.  One of his fellow teachers, Mademoiselle Lajoie, is fatally attracted to him.  After a clumsy attempt at seduction, this fragile soul succumbs to a fit of depression and attempts suicide.  With Mademoiselle Lajoie laid up in hospital and the headmaster off with a sudden bout of influenza, Gérard now faces the gruelling prospect of having not one but three classes to attend to.  Surely only a man of superhuman abilities and infinite patience could survive this terrible ordeal...?