Passion for Life (1949) - full transcript

Bernard BLIER (Schoolmaster)

Juliette FABER (Teacher)

DELMONT (Old Teacher)

THE SCHOOL OF LIFE

THE MEN:

THE WOMEN:

THE EXAMINERS:

and
AQUISTAPACE (The Antiquary)

THE KIDS:

And 23 children from several
villages in Provence to experience—

The School of Life



This is the story of a fighter in the 1914-18 war
who returned with the hope that it would be the last.

He graduated from the Ecole
Normale d'Instituteurs in July 1914

His first classroom was
the Battle of the Marne

For 4 years he had no students
other than the men he commanded.

Seriously wounded in 1918 he dragged out
a year going from one hospital to another

with but one burning ambition and desire:

finally to practise
his profession as an educator,

to prepare for a more beautiful life,

and to start all over again with the children,
because they themselves are a beginning.

October 1920.

We are in Haute-Provence

and M Pascal has just been
appointed to his first position.

Excuse me Madame, which is the way to Salèzes?

You'll see, you'll like Salèzes.



It's not a big city, of course,

but the people are friendly and the wine is good.

Unlike the ones opposite,
up there in Sestrières.

Isn't that true, M Cornille?

- In my time, the Schoolmaster
was called M Poinsonnet.

He had a speciality—

For no reason at all, he'd rip off your ear.

- Do you know M Arnaud,
the teacher I'm replacing?

- Yes—
- Hell, yes I know him!

An odd Schoolmaster, a scholar,

who sets problems no one can answer.

- Really?
- Yeah!

I can't tell you about it.

Don't you know that one, Honoré?
- Hell yes!

A father is five times the age of his son.

He got married at 24.

And that's as many years ago
as it takes for the son to be 24 himself.

How old is the father, and how old is the son?

We bamboozled a lot of people with that!

And people from the city!
Isn't that true, M Cornille?

- Who's that passing on the road?

- It's Aristide on his way back

- Oh yeah? And who's with him?

- M Cornille, Honoré and someone I don't know.

- Must be the new Schoolmaster.

- This road doesn't look like much,
but it climbs up nicely!

When I think that the racers
are going to hurtle down there!

- Full speed.

- Is there a race tomorrow?
- What, you didn't know that?

The second stage of the Tour de Provence.

Organized by the Petit Niçois
and the Petit Provençal papers.

It'll be a nice race.
- For sure.

Nicer than the Tour de France.

Seventy racers engaged.

Belgians, Italians, Alavoine, Jacky Hinault,

and our own Boufartigue.

- Boufartigue is from Salèzes.

- And do you think he'll win?

- He can't do anything else!

The folk in Sestrières would die laughing!

- What about you, M Cornille,
who do you support?

- My sideburns?
- I had them cut a long time ago.

Come on, Olive!
You're so stubborn!

Oh the Devil, what's happening?

- What?
- An accident!

- Good Lord, what's going on?
- A broken axle.

What are you guys doing?

- We're resting.

- These lazybones are as brave as
a grass snake about to spawn a lizard.

- Oh Félicien, do you have a rope?

- I think so!

- Sorry, will this take long?
- As long as it takes to fix it.

- I'll walk on a bit.

- You won't get lost,
you just have to follow the road.

- All right, thank you,
I'll leave my stuff with you.

- Roland! Is your rope a knotted one?

Good afternoon.

Your mill looks nice.
Where did you find it?

- We made it!
- Yeah—

- Did you know you can make light with that too?

- Light?
- Yes, electricity.

- You'll have to ask Hawkeye.

- Who's that?
- The big chief.

- Ah. And how about you, what's your name?

- Rifleman, and he's Salmon.

And my brother there, his name's Wild Caribou.

- Well, take care not to fall
in the water, the three of you.

- Hey, we can all swim like Indians!

- Look guys! A trout!

It's beautiful!

- It's not forbidden to fish—
- Who told you that, Hawkeye?

- Who are you?
- Guess who—

- How did you get here?
- On my legs.

What's your name?
- Buffalo.

And you?
- Albert.

- Hello Albert.

I'm not going to eat you. I've eaten already today.
I'm not hungry any more.

There, it had to happen.
Take off your clothes and let them dry.

And you, Big Chief, rub him with a handful
of grass so he doesn't catch a cold.

- We have a fire over there.
- Take him there.

Don't cry.

- I'll give you that trout I caught.

As long as his mother doesn't
know he fell in the water.

- Real Indians aren't afraid of their mothers.

- Yes, but real Indians
don't fall into the water either.

- Yes.

- It's the cart!

- What time is it?

- That's a nice watch.

When I'm older, I'm going to have one like that!

- My father always hangs his watch on a nail.

He says that way it doesn't get damaged.

- Well, one day I'll show you how it works.

- When?
- Sooner than you think.

Is there a shortcut up to Salèzes?

- Of course! Cross that little wood.

And when you get to the ridge
the village is straight ahead.

Who do you think he is?

- You want me to tell you, guys?
- Far as I'm concerned, he's a smuggler.

Good evening ladies.

Good evening Monsieur, nice evening, isn't it?

- When the rooster crows twice,
it often means rain.

- Yeah—
- We need rain.

- Well yes—Good evening gentlemen.

- Who's he?

- The new Schoolmaster.

- Well, no offence, but he doesn't
look like a gentleman.

- He left his hat on the train.

- There's no 'z' in 'vas-y'!

- Yes, there is.
- No there's not!

- Careful, it's not dry yet.
- Hey, Teacher!

We've been looking for you.

We wondered what had become of you.

- I took your luggage to the school.
- Thanks, I'm coming.

- Is that the new Schoolmaster?
- So, who's showing me the way to the school?

GO BOUFARTIGUE

Bernard! You go with this gentleman.

Oh, you know, the trouble they cause—

You'll have to tame them.
- Don't worry, Madame.

- But I am worried,
I can't be otherwise—

The older one's out all day with that Albert.

So, are you going?
Are you going or not?

If you don't go, the gentleman will
put you in a dark closet! Watch yourself!

- You shouldn't tell him that, Madame.
He'll never want to come to school again now.

- Want to go to school?
If you wait until they want to go to school—

You could wait a long time.

- You can lead a horse to water,
but you can't make him drink.

The problem is making them thirsty.

- So who's taking me to the school?

Are you scared?

- I'll do it.

- What's your name?
- Ernest.

- Let's go, Ernest.
- This way.

- The new Schoolmaster's just arrived.

- What's he like?

- He's not the same as M Arnaud.

- I heard he's missing half a lung.

- My God, the war—

- He's really odd.
I didn't imagine him like that.

- He's fat.

This is the school, monsieur.

- Thank you Ernest, see you tomorrow.

Goodbye, monsieur.

- The Schoolmaster, I presume?
- Yes.

- Hector Malicorne, Mayor of Salèzes.

- Deeply honoured, monsieur.
I was just on my way to greet you.

- You wouldn't have found me.

I'm teaching the young fellows a lesson.

So you see, I'm a teacher too.

I see you're looking at the memorial.

We know you're a hero.

Oh, no modesty.

Twenty five souls for a small town like ours.

At the end of the day, they died
so that there would never be war again.

Allow me to introduce you to these gentlemen.

M Tordo, from the Bazar Parisien.

M Pourpre, the hairdresser.

And the pharmacist, M Alexandre,
also known as Shorty.

Oh sorry, and M Laverdière,
our distinguished antiquary.

- Antiquary and numismatist, please!

- Pleased to meet you!

- Our new Schoolmaster.

- He's a Normalien.

They've never had one of those in Sestrières.

- Nor in the other valley.
- Not even here.

I'm not saying that for our good
M Arnaud, who's a scholar.

- Ah yes, right, he used to set problems
that no one has ever been able to solve.

For example:
a father is five times the age of his son

- Ah yes, I know.
The son is eight years old and the father 40.

- What we need here is a wooden stick.
- A wooden stick?

- A strong man who knows a little
about taming all these rascals.

It's just that we have an odd one here.
- Yes—Albert?

- You know him already?
- Who is he, exactly?

- The son of a poor unfortunate.
A nobody, killed in the war.

- Ah, so—a hero?

- Yes yes—But believe me—

Crack down on them from the start.
And if you need anything—

Always at your disposal.
- Thank you.

Goodbye gentlemen, and enjoy your game.

Oh, he found the solution immediately.
SCHOOL

Shame I couldn't make a note of it.

But, but what exactly is a Normalien?

- It's three years of study
after school certificate.

- Just as well they told us he's a Normalien.
Otherwise, we'd never have guessed it.

They've arranged it nicely.

Charlemagne.

That's the toilets.

That's it.

M Arnaud is angry.

M Arnaud, I presume?

- I wasn't expecting to see you.
- I was wandering around a bit.

- Yes, I saw you in the square
talking with the Mayor.

I was waiting for a chance
to introduce you to him, but—

- I'm sorry.
- But where have you been until now?

- I spent some time by the river with the children.

- Ah, you're young, my dear colleague!

Playing with them isn't enough, believe me.

Today is Thursday. A day off.

But if we let them,
it would be a four-Thursday week!

Their real Schoolmaster is Albert.

- Albert?
- Yes.

- Who is Albert?

- A rascal I've presented
three times for School Certificate.

Failed three times. The shame of the country.
Vice is in his blood.

He poaches and fishes all day.

- They don't catch a lot of fish.

- Yes, but if they don't catch fish,
they catch cold!

- What do you recommend against that?

- In the old days, they said beat them to a pulp,
but we no longer have the right to!

The only thing that matters is discipline.

Demand arms crossed.
Feet together.

Arms uncrossed? 20 lines.

Feet moving? 20 lines.

A pupil who speaks before raising his hand?

20 lines.
Don't accept any excuses or arguments.

Ah, there you go.

I leave you this little legacy.

Posters made by myself for every important thing.

Charlemagne, Emperor of the French.

Son of Pépin-le-Bref, Roland's uncle,
died in Aix-la-Chapelle.

Dates, Holy Roman Empire—
Oh, everything is written down!

And it's very easy to learn by heart.

A pupil reciting should stand upright,
with his arms crossed behind his back otherwise—

Twenty lines!

Ah, M Pascal—

I'm pleased to see you here.

I'm old, sick, tired—

The Administration made me wait
a long time for my retirement.

But finally, here you are.
- That's very nice of you, M Arnaud, but—

you see, for me—

discipline, texts learned by heart,
arms crossed, punishments, all that—

just doesn't exist.
- What?

- What matters is—to try and find a soul—

behind every face.
- A soul?

You sound like the priest!
- Whatever you call it.

Soul, character, whatever you like.

Each kid has his own personality.

The hard part is to find it.

And you won't find it by
banging your stick on the desks!

Even if your stick spurted out water.

You can lead a horse to water,
but you can't make him drink.

- In case you're interested, that hurt.

- Can I still count on you for—

- For what?
- Can you smell something?

- No—

Ah! The toilets!
- Yes.

- You don't want us to
install running water, do you?

- Why not? A coat of paint, fix the tiles,
replace la République!

- Replace la République!

Ever since I became Town Clerk, I've got nothing.

We have M Alexandre, the pharmacist,
who always says:

“School is an abyss where public funds are lost.”

Straighten your tie.

Lise! Come here, girl.

She's my little girl.
She teaches the girls while you have the boys.

Lise, M Pascal, you've heard me speak of him.

Show him his room.

You'll have dinner with us.
The girl does the cooking.

- Much appreciated.
- Please follow me.

- Sorry.
- Your things are already up there.

The room isn't big but the view is magnificent.

A swallow's built its nest above the window.

It should bring good luck.
- I'm sure it will.

- This room used to be my refuge.

Before Mum died.

This—this was the ship in the storm.

Ali Baba's cave.
- Crusoe's Island?

- Tristan and Yseult.

- And you still read a lot?

- I have to make time for me—

I get a lot of foreign books.
My father lets me read whatever I want.

He collects stamps, or else walks
around banging on pieces of wood.

He's glad you're here, you know.

Your ears must be ringing.
We talked a lot about you without knowing you.

- But you didn't imagine me like this?

- I knew you wouldn't come on a white horse.

- Did you hope for that?
- Maybe...

- Look who's here!
- The smuggler!

- He's the Schoolmaster.
- What's going to become of us!

- Line up!

Children? This is your new Schoolmaster!

A real scholar has been sent among us.

And I'm sure you'll make me proud of you,

by being respectful and disciplined with him.

Besides, iI'll continue to ring the bell every day.

Anyone who isn't clean on arrival will always
find soap and water in the laundry room.

And 20 lines!
Move forward!

One! Two!

♪ In a village midnight strikes ♪
♪ A blacksmith strikes iron ♪

♪ Near the glowing brazier ♪

Two! Two! Two!

Two! Two! Two!

Two! Two! Two!

One two three four!

One two three four!

- That's enough.

You can uncross your arms.

What lesson did you learn today?

Well? Have you lost your tongue?

Uncross your arms, I told you.

- Sir, it was about Charlemagne.
- Charlemagne?

Since you started, go on.

- Charlemagne, son of Pepin-le-Bref, 768 - 814

The Lazy Kings, the mayors of Austrasia.

The Mayors of the Palace—

- Good thank you, thank you.
Don't tire yourself out.

So—

Instead of reading,
you're going to tell me about Charlemagne.

It's easier.

Well? Have you lost your voices?
You've just been reading.

No? Who wants to answer?

Ah, you're not children, you're fish!

Now I understand why you like the river so much.

Am I right, Salmon?

- Sir, he was an emperor.

- He died at Aix-la-Chapelle.

- He was tall, very tall!

- He had a long beard like that.

- Long like that.

- Anything else?
- He had twelve peers.

- Yes.

What are peers?

- Peers of shoes.

- Anything else?

- He placed the children of the poor on his right.

- Anything else?

- He tied string around his legs.

- Yes.

Is that it?
- Yes.

- Well—well that's not so bad.

How about talking about something else now?

What do you think?

Uncross your arms!

We have to be careful.
His shoes don't squeak.

- He didn't give me a grade.

- He looks strict.

I have a new Schoolmaster.

- Right.

I have a new Schoolmaster.

You have a new Schoolmaster.

He has a new Schoolmaster.

We have a new Schoolmaster.

You have a new Schoolmaster.

They have a new Schoolmaster.

Each of you take a notebook.

- Which notebook?
- Any, it doesn't matter.

Tear out a blank page.

- Tear a page out of a notebook?
- Yes, why?

It looks like it's breaking your heart.

Now you're going to write anything you want.

Anything that interests you.

Earlier, when my back was turned,
you had something to say.

Write it down.

You can draw.
Okay, Wild Caribou?

I even recommend it,
especially for the little ones.

And then hurry up because when you're done,
you can watch Boufartigue race.

- Boufartigue? He's finished!

He came thirtieth in yesterday's stage.

They're even saying he's going to give up.
- A shame!

- Well. Poor Boufartigue.

Don't be like him!

Come on, get to work.

Beneath each face, a soul.

How to discover it?

How do I find the path to it?

Will I be able to make them thirsty?

Thirst for knowledge, thirst for life?

And then to quench that thirst?

Each of them is a problem.

Ernest, the one who first led me to the school,

in whom I can already detect an inner sensitivity.

Firmin, fixed gaze, vague eyes,

what is he thinking about?

What's behind his still expression?

Jacquot, the small ruminant
watching the flies racing on the ceiling.

What could I interest him in?

And Gaston, whose mother
threatened him with the dark closet.

And Jeannot, Salmon,

whose fear I need to drive away,

and his servility.

And the little ones there,
mouths open, fingers up their noses,

Lucien, dreaming and smiling.
At what? At whom?

Modeste, acting like a monkey
thinking I don't see him

And Charles,

whose shyness I'll have to overcome

And André who's sleeping, who I'll have to
wake up with something other than a call to order.

And Michel, the artist who
drew "M Arnaud is angry",

and probably a portrait of his new Schoolmaster.

And over there, Albert, almost a man.

How should I talk to him?

Well Albert, come on in!
There's room.

Ah, poor Albert.

He must be so bored all by himself.

Come on, keep going!

Hold on there!

Obviously, there's nothing to brag about.

Go on, go home, kids.

And when you come back,
there's no need to line up and sing.

- That's great!
- Yeah.

- You caught a cold at the river.

- You can't say I fell in the water.
- Agreed, I swear!

Do you have a cough too?

- He's always coughing.
- And what does the doctor say?

- He doesn't go up to his house.

- The school is damp.

- Yes, well, I'll go and see the Mayor, don't worry.

- You have to ask him for wood as well.

Last year, we didn't get any until
after Saint Catherine's Day.

- Yes. Goodbye Ernest.
- Goodbye, Sir.

I have a new Schoolmaster...
I have a new Schoolmaster...

I have a new Schoolmaster...

I have a new Schoolmaster you have a new Schoolmaster
he has a new Schoolmaster—yes, of course.

I have a new Schoolmaster,
he arrived this morning.

He doesn't have a hat and
he doesn't like Charlemagne.

The new Schoolmaster is funny.

Yes, if you like—

These requests won't do you any favours.

It's not a hospital, it's a school.

- It's a school, not a prison.

- There look—you've made me miss
with all your requests!

- The school is an abyss
where public funds are lost.

- Come on, don't worry.
Write me a little report.

And we'll appoint a commission.

- Yes but in the meantime, I'll need some wood.

The school is damp and the kids are coughing.

- Then they shouldn't smoke hazel leaves.

- Wood! We'd have to go up
into the mountains for it.

Haul it, carry it down—

You realise all that?

And we're burdened with red tape.

To lay an egg, a hen will soon have to provide
a certificate of good character.

- One of these days,
you should come and play with us.

- Yes, gladly. Gladly.
- Come on, don't worry, Teacher.

You'll have your wood
before the cold weather comes.

- Yes, at Easter. Like the soldier's mulled wine.

Want a peach?
I thought I noticed you liked them.

Just don't throw the stones
around the classroom, all right?

Tell me, Albert,

I didn't know you're a ward of the Nation?

- Me? I 'm not a ward of the Nation.
- Yes you are.

Everyone whose father was
killed in the war is called that.

And there are a lot, you know.

- I've seen the war up close.
It's not pretty.

Maybe I met your father without knowing him.

So many men spoke to me about their kids at home
and then showed me their photographs.

- He never took photographs of me.

- Really? Would you like that?

- All the others were photographed by M Tordo.

From the Bazar Parisien.

He never wants me to help him.

He just gave me a bad photographic plate
where they're all niggers.

- A negative.

All right, I'll take a picture of you.

- Will you?
- Yes!

But first, I have to have a serious talk with you.

Come on, come with me.

You aren't afraid, are you?
It's not class time.

I'm not going to force-feed you with a funnel.

No, I have a proposition for you.

Something that will interest you.

- No joke?
- Man's word.

Come on.

What on earth—!
- What is it?

- Albert has just gone into the school
with the new Schoolmaster.

- Good Lord!

- As you can tell, it's not warm in here.

But there's no wood.
Can you chop wood for me?

- To make me look like a slave—

- I asked if you can chop wood.

- So what?
- Good.

See this platform?
- Yes.

- You're going to get a good axe and then
you're going to chop it up in small pieces.

- The platform?
- Yes!

- Gosh, I like that.
When do you want me to start?

- Very soon, after you've watched
Boufartigue go past.

- Boufartigue? He has no chance.

He came thirtieth in yesterday's stage.
He'll finish last today.

- Some also came last in the School Certificate.

They're not necessarily the worst.

- I'm going to get an axe.
- That's it, show me what you can do.

- You don't want me to
chop a bench or two as well?

Well done, girl!

- Oh, the piano's bad what with these winters—

- No no, not at all.

Don't worry, my little girl.

No thank you.

M Saint-Saviole promised to
bring her a Pianola from Paris.

Yes, he says it can play whatever we want.

And with the pedals, it's better for her health.

- He'd do better getting her a bicycle.

- A little more coffee?
- Yes.

Who is this, M Saint-Saviole?
- Ah, you'll get on very well with him.

We call him the Innovator here.
He's all for modern methods.

Electricity, wireless telephony and irrigation.

- In agriculture maybe—
- What's this?

- Ah, that's another of M Saint-Saviole's ideas.

A cigarette-making machine.

This is progress—
- Yes, progress.

But in teaching, believe me—

you won't get into the kids' good books
by sending them to bicycle races

The only things that matter are
authority, setting an example—

- I've already been told all that during the war.

Yes.

And Albert? Did you see him this morning
walking around the square like a little bandit?

- I think I've found a job for him.
- A job? What job?

- Well, something that might interest him.

- Hah! I'd like to know what interests him.

What's that?
- I don't know.

- Can't you hear it?
- No.

Who takes care of Albert?

- His sister, Cécile.

She's a skivvy in the cafe.

When I say skivvy—
- Yes.

- She's just a nobody
who knocks around with anyone.

- Look, they're here.

There's four of them.
Boufartigue's in the lead.

Boufartigue—

He's worn out more trousers on his bicycle seat
than he ever did on the school benches.

Close the window, girl.

- You see, M Arnaud, this race is a symbol.

- A symbol?
- Yes! Yesterday he came thirtieth.

Everyone said he was going to give up.

But today, he wanted to be first in his own village.

- Yes, for the 50 franc bonus.

- No, not for the 50 franc bonus.

All men need success.

To be leader of the pack for a moment.
And children are the same.

They have to stand out.

But if we fail to interest them, then—
well, they'll find something else.

They're not necessarily the first in class, but—

perhaps the most adept at lighting a fire on the hill,

at hunting with a rubber slingshot, or—

or just making fun of us when we write on the board.

- If you know one of those, just let me know!

I'll soon quench his desire to do it again!

- No no! No one should be discouraged.
Everyone has his own speciality.

Look—

Those are behind.
But maybe they'll catch up on the downhill.

And who knows, maybe they'll win
in the sprint, as they say.

It's the same for our pupils, M Arnaud.

We have to ask every one of them what they can do.

And then afterwards, orient their skills.

What do you think, Mlle Lise?

- I think you're going to
a lot of trouble for very little.

- What was that?
- I think it's Albert.

- Albert? What's he doing?

- Working. Chopping wood.

- Wood? What wood?

- The platform—
- What?

I decided to remove the platform.

And since there's no money available,
that will provide wood for the stove.

- But M Pascal, the platform—!
The platform belongs to the municipality!

And you're talking about symbols!

Symbols—

- Shame on you for putting my father
in such a state. He's so ill.

- I'm sorry.

- What do you want?

- Time—

Right, let's go!

- Don't rush!

I told you not to line up
but I didn't tell you to rush!

I told you not to sing
but I didn't tell you to scream!

What a way to behave!

- Look at the platform!
- It's gone!

Yes.

Well.

From today, there's no more platform.

The Schoolmaster is among you. Between you.

He's an adviser, a guide.

A friend.

The platform isn't lost.
Our friend Albert helped us remove it.

Then he chopped it into firewood.
That way we'll be warm.

Come in, Albert.
You're not going to stay there like that, are you?

Come in, close the door.

Sit down.

Today you're going to tell me about the bicycle.

Its history, how it works,
the diameter of Boufartigue's wheels.

How many wheel turns does it take
to get to Nice, etc, etc.

And then, when you don't know any more, I'll speak.

Who wants to answer?
- Me, me, Sir.

Oh, good evening M Laverdière.
- Well, M Alexandre.

Are you off to have supper?
- I'm getting there slowly.

- Enjoy your meal.
- Same to you, same to you.

- Good evening!
- Good evening, M Laverdière.

M Pourpre, what about this Poincaré speech?

- I haven't read those speeches for ages.

- In the Assembly, M. Maginot
asked for the construction of a fortified line.

- Fortified lines are like corsets.

They don't stop the enemy.
Isn't that so, Cécile?

- M Laverdière, have you taken a little fancy to me?

- Ah, my chickadee, why "little"?

- And modern methods, Mr Teacher,
are they efficient?

- They work, thanks.

- He nearly gave poor M Arnaud a stroke.

- They're not even going to ring the bell any more.

- How's it going at home?
- Not bad, the Arnaud family don't speak to me.

- And when the Innovator returns,
he'll have support in the house.

- So much the better.
- Yes, is he courting Mlle Lise?

- Does she interest you?

M Moratelli, what can I get you for dessert?

- You put two oranges in his face
and ask him what he wants?

- He's only allowed two tangerines.

- What about Albert? What's become of him?
- Oh Albert—

He's—he doesn't come to school often.

He comes when he has time.
I haven't been able to arouse his interest yet.

By the way, M Pourpre,
you promised me a camera.

- Yeah, I have to find it first.

I bought it for five francs in Marseilles from an
American soldier looking for Bouterie Street.

I don't know where I put it.
- A camera?

In my day, in my day,
they made us kneel on a log.

Arms outstretched laden with books.
And if we moved—

Bang on the calves!

And they never took pictures of us, you know.

- When I was little, I took the goats to pasture.

I could always hold back, crying.
I got nothing at all.

On the contrary, I walked in front of them
and just capered around.

And that way, I led them wherever I wanted.

- Many thanks M Aristide.
I'll walk in front and caper about too.

Good night gentlemen.
- Good night.

- M Pascal, someone's asking for you.

- Who, me? Where?

- Yes, behind the barn.

- It's me, I wanted to talk to you.

You're always so nice M Pascal.

There's a festival in Saint-Martin tomorrow.
Will you be coming for a dance?

Will your brother be there?

My brother, my brother!
You're always asking me about my brother.

- You too?

- Idiot! He'll hate me now.

Yours is asleep.
Mine got the jackpot.

- Come on, hurry up, Nioumi!
- Look, mine's winning!

- No, it's the little one.

- My money's on the grey-green!
- Who's winning?

- The grey-green.
- No, it's the big one!

And what does a snail eat?
- It eats salad.

- Well, if you put a salad leaf
in front of it, it'll go faster.

If you're having fun, it should be having fun too.
The snail has to have playtime.

- I've got some salad in my bag.

- Oh! Look!

- What? We're working.

Who won?

- The grey-green.
- It's the champ!

- Well tidy up your desk, champ.
Then feed it.

Who wants to read the text written on the board?

Well? Who's going to read the text?
- Me sir! Me sir!

- Read it, Firmin.

The rest of you, back to your places.
You, put away the chair.

- Firmin has five escargots.

And racing, he watches them go.

Firmin will bet on the big one. "No!

"The blue one for me!" says Jeannot.

But the grey-green skips off with the dough.

Oh sir, that's like a poetry!

- Well, you're going to copy
that poetry into your notebooks.

And note the qualifying adjectives and the verbs.

You can sit down.

This will be your French exercise today.

Wait, wait, it's not finished.

We're going to do an investigation into snails.

Yes, an investigation like
we read about in the newspapers.

Whose is this?
- Mine, sir.

There will be detectives
asking questions all over.

Asking their parents, their friends—
anyone who can help.

Whose is that?
- Mine, sir.

There will be journalists
who will write the results.

Artists who will make drawings, engravings.

All right? While we wait for the photograph.

What do you think?
- It could be fun!

- Yes.

Well, detectives?

What are snails?

- Seashells.
- No no, not seashells.

They're gastropods.

Yeah yeah.

And since it was Firmin who brought
them to us, he'll tell us about them.

He'll tell us how they live,
for how long, what they eat.

- And how we eat them.
With white sauce?

- That's a question Jacquot's always interested in.

Well, you'll tell us.

You'll ask your mothers for recipes on
preparing snails. Okay?

- What about us?
Isn't there anything for us to do?

- Hold on, there's more to life
than just snails, isn't that right?

Well, detectives?

What do you propose?

- Seashells that you can hear the sea in.
Where they come from.

- Well, you can tell us.

And you can also tell us about fossils.
- Foss—what?

- Fossils. Come and see me after class,
with anyone else who's interested.

I'll give you some tips.

So, who wants to speak?
- And the watch?

- Well, at least you're consistent.
Do you want to do an article about watches?

- Yes, about M Cornille's clock.

- What's that?
- It's an idea M Cornille had.

- For years he wanted to see
a nice clock installed in the tower.

With automatons parading
when it strikes the hours.

And long hands, kilometres long.

- Modeste?
- My grandfather knows things.

He tells stories about Diable de Bigourne.

- Really, what's that?
- A man who transforms into a wolf or a bat.

- Wow, do you believe in that?
- Me? Yes!

- He's stupid!
- No, he's not stupid.

Right, Modeste, you can be the class storyteller.

And when we want to be scared,
you tell us stories, all right?

- And photography?
- No, we've got someone dealing with that.

- Who?
-Albert.

- What?
- Yes.

- And shoes?
Couldn't we write an article about shoes?

- Of course.

- It's not for nothing his father is a shoemaker.

Well, Ernest, since your father's a carpenter,
ask him to tell us about his profession.

- You don't know my father.
He'll send me packing.

- No. Just tell him it's the whole class asking.

- Look here son, I take this two-by-four ...

- When it comes to making a good pair of shoes,
there are two things that matter—

The raw material and the know-how.

The raw material is the cow.

And the know-how is the man.

Because, in my case, I learned my work in Romans.

- Where's that?
- In the Drôme.

It's a small town on the banks of the Isère.

I lived there for five years
before moving back here.

- The best recipe for snails is
to eat them with a good aïoli.

You grind your cloves of garlic
in the mortar until you have a paste.

Add one egg yolk per person ...

- Tell me something, Dad.
- Yeah?

- Have you found any fossils at the quarry?

- Fossils? What are you talking about?

Come on, give me some soup.

What's up with these kids at the moment?

Always on the move.
Always asking questions.

You're wearing me out.

- So, Dad, you haven't found any fossils then?

- what's this one up to?
What are you doing under the table?

Come here!

- He was pulling out my leg hairs.

- Leg hairs?
Her legs are smooth as marble.

- Dad—
What do you want, with your fossils!

What are fossils anyway?

- Dad, they're seashells.
- Okay well—

We're not eating shellfish now, it's soup.

- Fossils, Dad, are seashells
that the sea once left behind.

- This was all sea at one time.

- Fools. The sea hasn't
come up over the mountains.

- No Dad, it's the mountains
that formed afterwards.

That's why you find seashells in quarries.

- What he says is true, the little fellow,
we do find seashells.

Kids really know stuff now.

Listen, the next one I find,
I'll bring it back for you.

And you can tell me all about your—
whatever you were saying there—

- Have you seen the children around the fountain?

They're measuring the capacity
of the basin with a one litre can.

This is the first time I've seen these
spout problems treated in an intelligent way.

- Intelligent?
- Yes!

And when the children fall into the fountain
and catch a good chest infection—

it won't be M Pascal paying the doctor's bill.

It's like all his walks on school days—

- But he's not just walking,
they're investigating.

- Investigating?

I think it would be good to
do some investigating too.

Into the methods of the new Schoolmaster.

- But the kids are working!

- That's what I call playing truant.
- Yes.

- It's class time and look
where these kids are—

- What are they doing now?

- They're in front of M Morin's door.

- What are they plotting?

- One is writing.
Another one is climbing the wall.

They're going to destroy that door!
Stealing the latch, ripping out the nailheads.

And here comes Albert.

- What are you guys doing here?

- Investigate old things.

- Look at this! 1790.

During the Revolution.
- I don't give a fuck!

You really like this?
- Of course.

- Why don't you like him?
The other day, we had a snail race.

- What did the Schoolmaster say?
- He was happy.

We know you don't want to come back.

- Mind your own business.

- Here, look at my drawings of the sculptures.
- Show me!

Yes Mlle Lise,
my two little ones are fine with him.

Michel made a drawing at school that
I'd never have thought was his.

A seashell the Schoolmaster found up the hill.

The child isn't the same.

And the little one sees all that
and wants to do the same.

She says, "Why aren't we outside with the others?"

- Tell me, Mme Treillot—

Have I ever found fault with
the way you wash the clothes?

- Why? Do you think they're not clean?
- No.

- Then let me educate my girls the way I want.

- Good evening Madame.

Hello Mlle Lise.
- Good evening.

- Can I talk to you?
- I'm listening.

- Well, I wanted to tell you I have a friend
who got married in Brittany.

- Congratulations.
- Yes—

They're teachers, same as us, and—

His wife takes care of the girls—

and they use the same methods as me.

They get wonderful results, by the way.

- I don't know if you're from Brittany,
but you're stubborn.

Once and for all, don't speak to me about this again!

- Right—

I just wanted to give you the letter.

Bye Madame.

Did you see what the children have invented?

They've installed an electric plant by the river.

They call it white coal.
- An electric plant? Impossible!

- It's not a big plant, obviously.

It's a bicycle dynamo acting as an alternator.

- By the river?
- Oh, you're interested!

- You know, I don't think M Pascal has succeeded
any better with him than M Arnaud.

- Yes, but the army will knock it out of him.

- Oh, that reminds me that I promised
M Pascal I'd look for my camera

- A camera! Come on, don't talk to me about children.

Children disgust me. You know why?

Because they're the children of men and women.

And all men and women disgust me,
one as much as the other.

You're told to have children. Why?

To become unemployed, soldiers or cuckolds.

Look at this humanity that's born screaming,
and lives screaming.

Always looking in other people's plates.

And dying with its little bit of savings.

Anyway. Do you like that, M Pourpre?

- But that's why children have to be
raised differently, M Laverdière.

To prepare for a better life.
- You make me laugh with your better life.

When you've changed the world,
you can come and show it to me.

- He must have stepped on a turd today.

- He says women disgust him.

- You should see how he behaves with them.

- An electrical plant—

- At their age, that would have interested me a lot.

- The dynamo must be at the same height.
If it's not aligned, it won't work.

- Henriette, help me unwind the thread.

- Oh what a beautiful bouquet!

- Where's Marguerite?
- At home putting out moss and ferns.

- It's not easy to carve wood with this knife.

- When the turbine's installed
we can connect a small grinding wheel.

- Right then, is this turbine coming?

- I understand what turbinate means now.

- Henriette!

- Yes, Mademoiselle?.
- Come here!

What are you doing here?
- I'm working.

- And Solange, and Marguerite, where are they?

- They're here.

- Aren't you ashamed to have
left the class like thieves?

Go and get them! Come on!
Where is the Schoolmaster?

- I'm here.

- So it's no longer enough to have your own pupils.
You have to take mine from me too.

- They came with their brothers.
I thought you knew.

- I'm not like my father who is silent,
who suffers and makes himself ill.

I won't let myself go. You'll always find me
in front of you and everywhere!

Look what we're doing!

As soon as the turbine is installed,
we'll light up the cabin they're building.

- Now move away, the rest of you!

Look what they've done to our power plant!

- I bet Albert did this.

- He's over there watching us!

- Bastard, look what you've done!

- Albert, I'll get you!

Me on the right, the others on the left!

You have to tie him up with ropes!
- Leave him alone!

Leave him.

Leave me alone with him.

Sit down! Sit down!

What's wrong with you Albert?
What's wrong?

Are you angry with me because Cécile
wanted to kiss me? And you want to hurt me?

And you imagine that nobody loves you,
so you take refuge in nastiness?

But you weren't nasty, Albert.

If people look inside you, they'll like you.

- I really don't care what they think.
- Yes, we always say that.

You're mad because you're no longer the boss.

You could be again.

By leading the peloton, like Boufartigue.

You were being nasty about Boufartigue.

But I saw you in the front row the other day.
You were shouting "Bravo Boufartigue!"

It wouldn't take long for them
to shout "Bravo Albert!"

Here.

Since yesterday I've been walking around
with this camera over my shoulder, like a tourist.

M Pourpre, the hairdresser, gave it to me for you.

You can see you're not abandoned in this world.

- This world? I didn't ask to be born.

- No, but being born gives you a right.

- A right?
- Yes, the right to live and be happy.

In '89, don't laugh, it's not that old,
your great-grandfather was there,

people fought for
the Declaration of the Rights of Man.

You don't know about it
because you never learned about it.

Anyway, no one knows about it.
Even so it's not bad.

Albert, every day people are
fighting for human rights.

And there are some who fight
for the rights of children.

So if kids throw stones at them,
that's the end of it all.

Right?
- He must be having serious words with him!

- Oh, look!

♪ Santa Claus, descend from the sky ♪

♪ Bring us something good ♪

♪ Sweets for the boys ♪

♪ Pastilles for the little girls ♪

So.

Un jour viendra, by Arys.

Perfume?
- Yes, and a fashionable one.

And it's for me?

- Yes, just because we never agree
is no reason to be angry.

- Are you cold?
- No, no, it's the—

- Oh, your tie! One day I'll have to teach you
how to tie a regatta knot.

- Yes—yes.

I must say that smells jolly good.

I don't think you have any reason to complain
about the cuisine of the Bonne Auberge.

In any case, it has the advantage
of being served by Cécile.

- Good evening M Arnaud, good evening.

- Well, going was fine,
but coming back wasn't so good.

- Don't worry Dad, M Saint-Saviole
is picking us up in his Citroën tonight.

- Yes, he's going to break our arms
and legs with that Citroën car.

- You're going out tonight?
- Ah yes, we're invited by M Saint-Saviole.

Why?

- Because I thought we might spend
Christmas Eve together.

- Ah—too late.

What are you doing tonight, Cécile?
- I have a rendezvous.

- Happy?
- Yes.

He's shy. He takes my hand.

He tells me things no one has ever told me.

- It often happens in a woman's life that someone
tells her things that no one has ever told her.

But, she doesn't always hear them.
- Was that intended for me?

- No.

I'll try to pick up the Eiffel Tower.
Maurice Chevalier's singing there.

- Maurice Chevalier?

- It looks like a difficult and
complicated thing to put together.

- It's not the same wavelength.

M Pascal.

- Our Schoolmaster.
M Saint-Saviole whom you had heard of.

- The Innovator?
- Himself.

They call me that because I removed olive trees
to plant flowers in the fields of the valley.

If you've heard of that—

And I have the audacity to build an irrigation canal.

No one had thought of that since the Romans.

I haven't finished astounding them.

Have you seen my Citroën?
- Yes yes, downstairs.

- They also manufacture half-tracks.
I'm going to buy one to make a tractor.

- Bravo.

- To think that in our time we still plough
with oxen and with donkeys.

- And write with the pens
of our great-grandfathers,

in the age of the fountain pen and the typewriter.
- And the radio.

- Go and put on your coat and hat, my girl.

Let's go, Mr Innovator, I don't want you
driving too fast in this snow!

Look how he spoils us!

- Ah! Maurice Chevalier.

♪ Nobody, nobody, ♪

♪ Will know how much I suffer. ♪

♪ I give myself, I give myself, ♪

♪ Just to please you. ♪

Sir!

- What?

- My father sent me to ask you if you'd like
to come and spend the evening with us.

- Of course! I'm coming, thank you.

It does us great honour, Mr Schoolmaster,
to have you among us.

- It's very kind of you
to invite me to your family table.

- The Christmas log!

- Ages ago, before mass, we used to put
a big log in the fireplace with ashes on the top.

And we used to say if it went out while
the bells were ringing, we were going to Hell.

- We stayed up later in those days.

The boys used to plot together.

I remember the day they lowered
a puppet down the chimney.

We thought it was the Devil himself falling in.

- It wasn't always fun and games.

One night a wolf got into the pigsty
through a hole in the roof.

- A wolf?
- Yes.

- That would make a great article.

- Near here, where it had escaped to, a traveller
was devoured by wolves on Christmas Eve.

- Good evening to all.
- Good evening M Cornille.

- A frosty Christmas, leads to a flourishing harvest.

Hello, Mr Schoolmaster.
- Good evening M Cornille.

- In my day, we said, "Exercise books on the griddle,
Schoolmaster in the middle."

- Thank you—

- To Bodisson!
- Who's Bodisson?

- Bodisson? Oh, he was a fine man.

Before he died, he shared his lands on one condition.

Every year, his heirs were required
to give to the municipality,

a 50-kilo bag of wheat
to make free bread at Christmas.

Ah, the Earth is vast.
Let the good people join hands.

- You have nothing to say, Schoolmaster?

- I'm listening to you.

You make me want to be a little boy again.

- Sir?

- What?
- Can I show you my typewriter?

- Leave the Schoolmaster alone with your typewriter.

- What typewriter?
- When Lulu Luchini died,

I bought some odds and ends.

There was an old typewriter that nobody wanted.

They gave it to me as part of
a deal with pieces of wood.

He really likes his machine.
- Yes, it's beautiful, isn't it?

- Yes, it's beautiful.

Do you know how to make it work?
- I think so, yes.

- Write something.

And there was—

light.

And there was light.

- It's not possible?
- Yes, it is, I'm telling you.

The Schoolmaster has a girlfriend.
- But who?

- I don't know. Since Christmas,
he's been looking very happy.

He's been going into town on Wednesday
nights for the last four weeks

and not coming back until Friday morning.

- My God, and poor Cécile waiting all that time.

Ah, you're all here!

The train was late.

I said to myself,
when the cat's away, the mice will play.

- We're not playing! We're working!

- That's wonderful!

- It was really too dirty.
- It's a surprise, is it?

- I chopped a log.
- Yes, wasn't that a bench once?

- What's in the box?

- Oh, are you interested?
- Yes.

- Well you're right, it's a Christmas present.

A Christmas present arriving four weeks late.

Come and see.

- What's this?

- It's letters!
- Here's a 'p'!

- No, it's a 'q'!
- They look like printing characters.

- Of course they do, since that's what they are.

- Are they for us?
- Yes.

- But—can we make words with them?

- Yes, we can make sentences, pages, books.

- Why don't we make a book?
- That's what I was going to suggest.

- It's easier than writing by hand.

- Of course, that's actually why
the printing press was invented.

It was a big revolution, you know.

It's said that Gutenberg, around 1450,
printed on his first page,

"And there was light".

- Oh sir, I understand now.

- Yes but what are we going to print?

- Everything you've seen, heard, learned—

The results of your investigations.
Everything.

- What will we do about the drawings?

- We'll make engravings, if we can find linoleum.

- There's some at the Auberge, in the rooms.

- We'll print everything together!
- Yes.

- So it'll be like a little book with pictures?

- Yes, we could even colour them if you like.

- Quick, quick, we have to start right now!

- No, first we all go to the carpenter.

To order a press from him.
- A press?

- Geoffroy, don't you like it?

- Leave me alone, mother,
I'm thinking about this press.

- The Schoolmaster gave you the drawings?

- Drawings, drawings. Of course.

Ah, it's easy on paper.
I have to count, to calculate.

- You'll make yourself ill.
All night I could hear you.

Turning over in bed—and over again—

You just turn over your salad, and leave me alone.

- Hurry up, let's eat.

What are you whining about?

- I wanted to write the story of the
prehistoric axe we found up the mountain.

But Michel's writing it too.

Well, I've been hearing stories about
that axe since I don't know when.

- Don't worry, people from that time
don't have toothaches any more.

- Rather tell about the troubles
your father has making shoes.

Before, we couldn't keep hold of them.
Now they wear their eyes out working.

What are you going to do with this recipe?
- We're going to print it in class.

- My God, show it to me
in case I've forgotten anything.

- Printing, printing—

If you'd said, "I need money to buy a tractor
or fertilizer for my crops,"

you'd give me a solid reason.

but to try to interest kids
who couldn't care less about it—

- I don't need a lot of money,
but I've gone through all my savings.

I owe money to the carpenter.

To print, we need paper.
Paper is expensive.

- Ah, my good M Pascal,
what is not expensive these days?

If I told you the sums I've committed
for this new installation.

Wait, look—

The rhizome draws the elements necessary
for its preservation from the water.

And during the whole off-season,
I ship to major cities.

That's how in London, the Milords
eat my grapes in the depths of winter.

- I'm an innovator too.
- You are an apostle, like us.

A merchant of paradigms.
I gladly tip my hat to you.

But I'm not a philanthropist,
nor am I a gullible person.

Why do you want me to give you money to teach
the sons of my peasants to become scholars?

What are the benefits for me?

What do I need? Peasants and workers.
That's all.

A bit of history and geography,
the four operations, nothing more.

Otherwise, they all want to become gentlemen.

Ah, manage your class like everyone else.

And if the community is satisfied with you,

at the end of the year the Council will
vote you a small sum for your experiments.

What's the matter?
- M Saint-Saviole, the tap is still leaking.

- Have you called the plumber?
- I can't talk on the phone!

- Come now, that's where
you need to make a real effort.

As M Cornille says, the Earth is vast
and good people join hands.

Oh but I'm thinking about it, M Pascal,

I may be able to help you with the paper.

I have old packets of ballot papers
here in all the colours of the rainbow.

The back will suit you, it's beautiful paper.

You'll only have to print on the back.
- Oh thank you.

If only you knew how much
it absorbs them and inspires them!

You wouldn't recognize them.

- Do you know how to agree participles?

- Yes, I learned the rule by heart, but when I write,
it's never like the grammar examples.

- You see, I'd like to write about
the life of a shepherd in the mountains.

Do you remember when I lost a lamb?

- Yes. Would you like us both to do it?
- I didn't dare ask you.

- Once upon a time there was
a poor blacksmith who was called Misery.

Well, Albert? Can't think of an idea?
- No

All the others are writing and I can't find anything.

I would have like to be in print though.

- Imagine you're writing to your girlfriend.

- That's all you women think about!

- Where's that poiret, Cécile?
- Here's M Saint-Saviole.

- For the day before the end of
the hunting season, it's not so bad.

A thrush, a couple of partridges,
a beautiful pigeon.

- And a poor little quail the size of your wrist.

- Feathers, feathers, nothing but feathers.

Keep the change, Cécile.

Come here, Sultan!

Goodbye gentlemen.
- Goodbye M Saint-Saviole.

- It's not my fault if there are
no elephants in the country!

Right Albert?

- Feathers, feathers, nothing but feathers.

- He didn't show you his bag.
maybe there were only stones in it.

- You've just given me an idea.

- You, having an idea?
You're worrying me.

- A story—about hunting.

It was the last day before
the end of the hunting season.

At the café, the proud hunters were
drinking an aperitif and telling stories.

M Pourpre, very happy, opened his bag

and showed us a thrush, a couple of partridges,
a beautiful pigeon and a small quail.

Pfft, said the Innovator dismissively.

"Feathers, feathers, nothing but feathers".

But he hadn't opened his beautiful brand new bag.

Maybe there were only stones in it.

- And a hunting story.

- A pair of boots.

- Little girls.
- Yes.

- The Devil and Misery.
- The winemaker.

- The making of a table

- A prehistoric axe.

- Snails recipe.

- Firmin or the little shepherd.

- And a beautiful clock.

- Well. You've worked like angels.

Now you have a choice to make.
- A choice? Why?

- Because you can't print them all at once.

So which one are we going to print today?

- Mine's the best.
- No mine is.

- Sir, are you going to print mine?

- It's not me doing the printing, it's you.

- Who's going to choose?
- You can take a vote.

- A vote?
- Yes.

- There's no need to vote.
The best text is Albert's.

Feathers, feathers, nothing but feathers

- That's your opinion, Ernest.

Raise your hands, those in favour!
That's a vote!

Anyone against?

You?

- I prefer mine.

The snails recipe.

Grandma won't be happy if we
don't print the recipe for snails.

I have a concern too.

- I'm afraid the Innovator will
get angry if we make fun of him.

- Is it because I did it that
we're not going to print it?

- Why do you say that?
Don't be silly.

I'm telling you this because it's my duty.

Oh never mind, it won't hurt him.
Come on, get to work, men!

- It was the—

- last—

- day—

- before—

- the end—

- of the hunting season.

- At the Café—

the hunters—all proud—

- were drinking an aperitif—
- And be careful there's no mistakes!

- Aren't there two ts in aperitif?
- No, it only needs one.

- There, what did I tell you.

- I have commas. Don't you want commas?

- Yes, they'll ask you for commas,
and even quotation marks.

- Mind your hands, so I don't hurt you.

- Use the small chisel for the shadows..

- Oh?
- Yes, it's much better.

- Thank you sir.

- What about me? Don't I get to do anything?
- You can ink.

- Is that M Cornille?
- Yes.

- Your little cat is really nice.

You must finish its ear
before putting it in the oven.

- In the oven?
- Not for cooking of course.

To be able to add a strong coat of paint.

- Like Bernard Palissy?
- Yes, like Bernard Palissy.

- Sir, we've just read a book.
It'll make a great text.

- Fine, go to your place,
and we'll work on it together.

But without making any noise.
Carry on!

- Sir, are the shadows all right?
- Yes they're perfect.

The binding you do is amazing.
How are you fellows?

- We're fine, Sir!
- Then put the characters in place.

And don't you forget the commas.

When we've printed all the texts, we'll put them
together and it'll be the Journal de Salèzes.

What's that?
- It's the village of Salèzes.

Well, if it turns out right,
it can be our cover picture.

- Never, even under François the Ist,

life at Court had been as brilliant as under Louis XIV.

He wanted a palace like
no king of France had ever had.

This palace was to be called the Palace of Versailles.

- Well go on.

Are you tired?
Your turn Jeannette.

Your turn Jeannette!
What are you looking at over there?

So what's so interesting in the square?
Especially now, it's dark.

- It's Aristide watering his donkey.

- You're terrible today!
Nicole, put down that ruler!

- Why don't we work like the boys?
They're making fun of us.

- You're annoying me today with your questions.
Your turn, Jeannette.

- The King was an absolute monarch.

He considered himself above his subjects

and chosen by God to lead them.

A hunting story

Don't fight, don't fight!
You'll each have your own.

This is exactly why
the printing press was invented.

The Book of Salèzes
School Monthly Newspaper
School Print Shop

Hurry up with some bindings,
we're running out of them.

- I want five.

- Come on, hurry up.
- Four for me.

- Four for me.
- Take more

- I'm doing my best.
- One for me.

- One?
- Yes, it's for my mother.

- Ten for both of us!

- For you two?
- Yes, him and me.

- Ten just for me.
- Don't take all my customers!

M Guillemin, do you want our little book?
- What book?

- It's interesting, you know.
- We printed it ourselves.

- And the drawings, and everything.
- It only costs ten centimes.

- Ten centimes? Let's see.

"Everyone vote for Castellade".
What's this?

- You're looking at the wrong side.

Because we had no paper.
It's the Salèzes Book.

- Oh yeah! The Salèzes book.
Hey, Phine, have you seen this?

- My God, you're very clever to have done that.

- It costs ten centimes.
- Ten centimes—that's a bit of a sum.

- Ah, give me the wallet, Phine.

And what are you going
to do with those ten centimes?

Are you going to buy sweets?

- No, it's so we can print more books.

- Here, look, it was my son who drew it,
printed it, and everything.

He wrote on page seven:

the prehistoric axe.

- Ah, those kids, they're smarter than us now.

- Is the recipe for snails in there?

- Yes, page nine.

- Girls are characters.

When you look at one,
she runs away as if she's scared.

If there are two of them,
they go arm in arm and sing.

They whisper secrets in each other's ears.

And at times, they giggle.

They wait until they get out of school to put
lipstick on their lips and powder on their cheeks.

- It's well written, isn't it?

Why are you waiting to give them the answer?

- M Pourpre, you're a good hairdresser
but a bad pedagogue.

- Pedagogue? Well, you do have expressions for it—

Anyway, am I to cut your hair?

- No no.

- Oh, you'll still come back, same as the others.

- What do you mean by that, same as the others?

- Well, while I've got you here,
I'm going to tell you something.

You hate M Pascal too much
to be indifferent to him.

When I first met Victorine, I couldn't bear her.

- First of all, I don't hate him.

- So how can you prefer the Innovator to him?

Because between ourselves,
M Pascal is a real innovator.

He's not innovative on the surface.

He's innovative inside his head.

- You just look after the outside, all right?
- Yes.

I'm going to give you little kiss-curls.

- Page two, a hunting story.

- Read it to me.

It was the last day before
the end of the hunting season—

But remember, it happened right here.

That Albert, I would never have believed
he was capable of writing this.

- And what was in this beautiful brand new bag?

- Feathers, feathers, nothing but feathers!

Hello M Saint-Saviole. So, how was the hunt?

Feathers, feathers, nothing but feathers—

- It's interesting. What do you think?

- Yes, but it's not a question
of training printers.

- It's a way of entertaining them.

- Yes, but we don't work while having fun.

- Good morning.
- Isn't it M Saint-Saviole?

- Oh, I don't know—
Everyone seems very cheerful today.

What's this book?
- Atlantis. It's just been published.

- This old way of cleaning is unhealthy .

- You should like it though—
- Why's that?

- Feathers, feathers, nothing but feathers.

- Your little book is very nice.
I'll buy one.

- It's ten centimes.
- Ten centimes?

Turn your back!

- Tha's a lovely chair you've got!

- Don't sit on it, it's broken.
- It's the Provence coat-of-arms.

Look, the Count's coat of arms!

- Really, it's some old thing I had in the attic.

The antiquary will get rid of it for twenty francs.

- Don't sell it, Mrs. Niou, it has value.
- It's a museum piece.

Ah, M Laverdière.
- Hello Mrs. Niou.

- Do you know what they're telling me?
That my chair's worth something.

- What do you know about it? Little bastard!

- I do know! I studied old doors,
old sculptures to give a talk at school.

- Strange school!

Where you learn everything
that doesn't concern you.

Listen, Mrs. Niou—

Here's 20 francs as agreed.
Let's not talk about it any more, ok?

- But M Laverdière, if it belonged to a count—

- Oh, a count, a count! Besides,
good accounts make good friends, so—

Here's 50 francs.
A beautiful brand new banknote, look.

- The chair looks really nice, actually—
- Oh for Goodness' sake!

Right, here's 100 francs.
Because it's you, you know.

And that I used to do business with you.

What's all that semaphore there, you?

Is the chair yours?

- No M Laverdière, it's mine.

And I'm not selling it now.
I'm going to keep it.

- Fine then, keep it!

- Between ourselves, we were pretty quiet
before the arrival of that phenomenon.

- What phenomenon?
- Mr Teacher and his methods.

No one can fart in the village any more
without a brochure being printed.

Children on the lookout for everything.

- Glad they don't stick their noses into alcoves.

- Oh, they will.
- Treat it with contempt.

He's a poor jealous, embittered
civil servant, seeking a little glory.

- Or he's trying to make himself
attractive to women, that's all.

You may one day have the opportunity to see it.

- What about those ballot papers
he prints those little books on?

He says he didn't have any paper.

So he put in all the colours s
there would be no jealousy.

- It's not true, there are royalists,
socialists, capelins, radicals—

There are no independents.
I consider that as a provocation.

- Evening, everyone!

- A drink for M Pourpre!
- Yes and a good one.

If we dared—
- If we dared what?

- We'd start a petition to have him kicked out.

- Who?
- The Schoolmaster!

- Oh. A war hero.

- The war is over.

I bet he'lll be gone in in three months!

And this is my round.

- Well, as for me, I bet that
in three months, he'll still be here.

I'll pay for my own drink!

♪ Shrove Tuesday is dead ♪
♪ He needs to be buried ♪

♪ His crying wife ♪
♪ We have to comfort her ♪

♪ One, two, three, jump Shrove Tuesday ♪
♪ Jump Shrove Tuesday ♪

♪ Jump Shrove Tuesday ♪
♪ Jump Shrove Tuesday ♪

♪ Ding ding dong Brother Jacques ♪

♪ Ring the matins Brother Jacques ♪

♪ Ring the Easter chimes ♪

♪ Ring the Easter chimes ♪

♪ Bells and chimes. ♪
♪ Bells and chimes. ♪

Well?

- Then the Easter eggs.

- The Easter eggs.

Today, I have a text to propose to you too.

And if you think it's good, maybe we'll print it.

It's not mine either, it's by
a French writer called Beaumarchais.

Anyone heard of Beaumarchais?
- I have.

- Have you?
- Yes.

He invented something
in the mechanism of watches.

- It's true. How did you learn that?

- When I was preparing my talk on the watch,
I read it in a book you lent me.

- Very good. You're right.

Well Beaumarchais also wrote a play.

Whose hero is a hairdresser named Figaro.

- Is that M Pourpre?
- Almost, yes.

For a while—

and you've surely all noticed it yourselves,

we can feel around us a sort of—

a sort of organized malice—

going against everything we do.

Let me read to you what Beaumarchais,
the friend of M Pourpre 150 years ago,

writes about calumny in his "Barber of Seville"

Calumny, sir?
You don't realise its effectiveness.

I have seen the best of men
very nearly overwhelmed by it.

Believe me, there's no spiteful stupidity,
no horror, no absurd story,

that one can't get the idle-minded folk of a great city
to swallow if one goes the right way about it.

And we have some experts here!

First the merest whisper skimming the earth
like a swallow before the storm,

a murmur and it's away,
sowing the poisoned seed as it goes.

Someone picks it up
and insinuates it into your ear.

The damage is done.
It spawns, creeps and crawls

and multiplies and then from mouth to mouth
it goes like the very Devil.

Suddenly, no one knows how,

you see Calumny raising its head hissing,
puffing, and swelling before your very eyes.

It takes wing, extending its
flight in ever-widing circles,

swooping and swirling,
sweeping everything before it,

and breaks forth at last like
a thunder clap to become—

Come in!

- This is a summons from the Town Council.

There's a meeting at 8:30 pm.

Be there at 9 pm precisely.

Goodbye M Pascal.
- Bye.

Sorry, sorry, sorry!

I don't understand this stab in the back.

I will not endorse anything!

The children are happy, they do their work.
And the parents are happy.

- No, they aren't happy.

M Pascal took our children from us.

The only thing that matters
to them now is school.

- And what a school!

As for the authority of the father, it's dead!

- But whose fault is that, M Tordo?

The children trust him because he trusts them.

If I could choose, I'd rather
be an orphan than your son.

- No comment. I'll ask each of you to speak in turn.

M Rabastet?

- The Schoolmaster takes care of everything
except what is necessary.

- That's right!

He intervened with one of my customers
in a commercial transaction.

Oh sorry, I interrupted you, forgive me, monsieur.

- When I made the fountain in the square,
on behalf of the municipality,

he started a class competition
to draw the prettiest fountain.

The result? Everyone thought mine was awful.

- The fact is, it's not very pretty.
- There! See what I mean?

- A concrete bollard
with a piece of cast iron pipe.

You could have done better!

For example, a stone lion spitting water.
- Why a lion?

- Or if it pleases you, Innovator,
a feathered animal.

- M Candibert wanted to say something.

- A man who doesn't wear a hat?
He must have got sunstroke.

- No, we're here for serious business.

- Serious! And there's no lack of that.

- Your turn, M Laverdière.

- This is a man who denigrates
our school everywhere.

And even in writing!

The school is dirty, the toilets smell bad—

As if toilets could smell good.

All those things reflect badly on the village,

and can be used for any manner
of electoral propaganda,

against the current municipality.

That is to say against
the Mayor and against us.

What's surprising, anyway?

Didn't he have his little booklets
printed on electoral ballot papers?

Carefully selected.

Didn't he organise a children's vote in class?
- It's a disgrace.

- And the platform! Do you know
what he did with the platform?

Firewood!

It was the property of the municipality and
it's with our money it'll have to be replaced!

What do you think, M Alexandre?

- The school is an abyss
where public funds are lost.

- Conclusion?
- The conclusion is this: We've seen enough.

I therefore ask you to vote on
a motion for dismissal or transfer.

We'll pass it on to our General Council.

And I have a long reach!
- Well, I've got something to say.

If there are any men of conscience here,
they will not vote for such a motion.

What do you think, M Arnaud?

- I consider M Pascal a sincere man.

And I have to admit the children like him.

If only he'd wanted to listen to me,
we wouldn't be here today.

The school must not suffer
as a result of our discussions.

The Council doesn't have
the right to dismiss M Pascal.

We can only ask for an inspector
to come and make a report.

That's what I think.

- But look, M Arnaud, I don't follow you.

What is this? Are you abandoning us now?

- M Arnaud, you're a good man.

And as sure as my name is Pourpre,
I'll always shave you for nothing.

As long as these gentlemen have not
prohibited me from practising my profession.

- I beg your pardon. I knocked,
but no one answered.

- Schoolmaster, the Council has met to—

- I'm sorry, Mr Mayor, but—

The doors of the Town Hall are so thin that,
unintentionally, I heard your discussion.

While, incidentally, being unable to take part.

Gentlemen, the results I obtain are
the only answer I can give to your grievances.

So I have a suggestion for you.

M Arnaud, how many of your children
passed the Certificate?

- About half of those I presented.

- And in Sestrières?
- A third.

Very well. I undertake to ensure that all
children eligible for the Certificate will pass.

If they fail, I myself will ask to be transferred.

- Clearly, that's one suggestion—

- What about Albert, Mr Schoolmaster?
Will you present him too?

- Albert? Why Albert?

- Because he's old enough
to sit for the Certificate.

- That would distort the result in advance.

- However, if we're to judge on methods,
this is certainly a fine example.

- Fine, I agree.

- I can't.
I'll never do it.

I'm afraid of not being up to it.

- Don't fret, they didn't ask
for you to be presented.

It was me.
You can see I have faith in you.

And of course we'll both work.

- You did well in the fighting.
And if you should be hanged one day—

you might as well be hanged
for a sheep as for a lamb.

You see—

- M Arnaud is asking for you.
- Who?

- M Arnaud.

Good morning M Arnaud, you asked for me?
- Yes.

- Can I offer you a drink?
- No thank you, my kidneys don't work these days.

I wanted to warn you—

The Inspector will be here tomorrow.

And with an inspector, you know, we never know.

A bad report in your file
will follow you your whole life.

I'd like to give you something
that may be useful to you.

Fruit of my experience. Infallible!

When the inspector is there,

shout loudly now and again:
"I hear a foot moving!"

Especially if you actually hear nothing at all.

It's amazing.

Goodbye M Pascal.
- Goodbye M Arnaud.

- Of course—clearly—

I recognize that I have nothing to say.

Your children seem very clever.

They know lots of things.

Perhaps too many.
- How can we know too many things?

- I know what you're thinking.
That I'm just an old fossil.

But, I was like you—yes, even me.

Only now, life sees to it
that our zeal is tempered.

You'll have a hard struggle
against the Administration.

It's blind but powerful.

- Those who survive are those who fight.

- This inspector is a pusillanimous being.

He failed to take his responsibility.

It's up to us to take ours!

- I see only one solution: a strike.
- What?

We must refuse to allow our children to remain
in the hands of this crackpot any longer.

- I think the children have become much nicer.

You people don't realize—

but I hear many things that you don't understand.

- M Laverdière says parents shouldn't send
children to school as long as M Pascal is there.

- All very well for M Lavardière,
he has no children.

- You owe me money.
You were supposed to pay me on the 30th.

- Yes, but as you know well, M Laverdière,
I've had some misfortune.

My poor wife was in hospital.

- Yes but she came back.
- Luckily she came back!

- Listen to me.

I'm not asking you to pay me right away.

Just remove the little one from school.

He can wait a year for his Certificate.

- You agreed to such a thing?!

- He forced me.
- Forced.

And there you have it, the courage of men.

Well listen to me.

If you let M Pascal go, you let me go too.

- Remind me, Rossi, you're not naturalized?

- You know very well I'm not, Mayor.

- I don't imagine you want
to go back to your own country.

So, for your sake, stop sending your son to school .

At least, until the start of the next school year.

- M Saint-Saviole, I'm responsible for
my children's education.

They'll be peasants like me.

But they'll be smarter than me
because they'll be better educated.

- As you wish, but I have
only one thing to say to you.

At Michaelmas, I'm kicking you out.

- In that case, I have
only one answer for you: Go to hell!

They print—we print!
I have shares in a publishing house in Nice.

We're tired of seeing our children playing truant.

We demand the transfer of this useless Schoolmaster.
Parents of the pupils

- Who are, these "Parents of the pupils"?

- Nobody asked my opinion.

But then I have nothing to say.
- Well, I have something to say.

Simply that my boy has never been so happy
since the new Schoolmaster's been there.

Anyone disagree?
- Well not me anyway.

Posters like that—

I say posters like that are meant to light a fuse.

And I'm telling you, Mr Mayor, I think it a disgrace
what's happening under your protection.

- M Pourpre, please be careful with your words.

- And you too, please be careful with your words.

I'm not a bloodthirsty person.

But seeing such things might push me to extremes.

And one of these days—sorry.

"Long live the Schoolmaster.
Those who attack us are fools."

Signed "The Class".

Well done Schoolmaster.

You put pressure on the children
to fight for your wicked cause.

Now we see what the printing press is for.

- This poster was made without my agreement
and I'll tear it down myself.

- Let me tell you that I regard it
as a call to mobilization.

Mr Schoolmaster, this is war.

- Don't talk about what
you know nothing of, will you?

- I've seen two wars.
- Yes I know, too young for one, too old for the other.

I know what war is monsieur,
and yours doesn't scare me. Goodbye.

- So I don't know what war is!

So I don't know what war is!
I'll show him!

It's very simple.
I forbid you to set foot in the school.

And if I catch you going there,
it's the dark closet and dry bread like before.

We'll see who's in charge here!

- Why are you crying?

What happened to you?

- Some girls chased me screaming
"Down with M Pascal!"

They pushed me to the ground and
wanted to rub my arse with nettles.

- Really!
- Lucky he came along and rescued me.

- Who did?
- Albert.

- You know what this Albert did?
- How do you expect me to know?

- While my little nieces were at the river,
he stole their underwear.

They were forced to come out naked.
- Completely naked?

Seriously, if your little nieces are
anything like you, they'd have been very happy.

Tell me, my boy, look at that pen holder.
Isn't it beautiful?

Can you see the Eiffel Tower in it?
- Yes.

- If you're good, I'll give it to you.

- To me?
- Yeah, but on one condition.

Look.

This box contains sneezing powder.

Throw some around the classroom, just for fun.

- Gentlemen, I have convened you urgently
to discuss the situation.

Hey, how are things at school?

- Why don't you come any more?
- My father won't let me.

What are you doing now?

- The class got a letter and a parcel.
- A parcel?

- Yes, this morning M Petavet came into
the classroom, and told us ...

- I have a parcel and
some letters for you, children.

- A parcel?

- Sign here. please.

The parcel was from Brittany.

A small village called Trégunc in Finistère.

M Petavet hung around to see what was inside.

It was small books, like ours.

They're called "The Menhir".

Like the stones they have in Brittany.

Written and printed by the whole class!
Same as us!

And at the bottom of the parcel,
there were crêpes from Brittany

and seashells that let you hear the sea inside.

The Schoolmaster cried a bit.

And he said:
- Children? We're no longer alone in the world.

We all cried.

We don't need to be in class to write!

All we need is to do it together!

- Yes, but we have to find something interesting.

- Do you remember Mme Chauttard
when she wanted to drown her little cat?

- Yes, I remember.

- It's horrible to feel responsible
for everything that's going to happen.

If I don't pass—
- But you will pass.

Come in!

- Did you call me?
- Yes, I need an agreement from you.

- From me?

- Yes, look at this,
the little ones brought me a text.

Little ones, that is to say yours and mine.

They called it
"The Little Cat That Didn't Want to Die".

The whole class wants to print it,
only I didn't want to do it without your agreement.

- M Pascal, I want you to know something.

I don't approve what they're doing against you.

If you believe that this little cat can help you—

print it!

Good luck.

Mrs. Chauttard wanted to kill her cat.

It was sick.

What's the matter, little girl? You're crying?

You seem a little nervous at the moment.

You're going all weepy
over stories about little cats.

- This brochure will make some noise again!
- You think so?

- Yes, they're getting on Mme Chauttard's nerves.

I can see it as if I was there.

- Dad—
- Don't tell me.

Because it would hurt me.

- And what do you think of it, Mme Chauttard?

What is this teacher getting into?

If we can no longer drown our cat quietly now.

- It's the end of the world!

- Yes. It's the end of the world,
as Mme Chauttard says.

And it's the end of M Pascal,
that everyone is anxiously awaiting.

Mme Chauttard is ready to sue him for defamation.

- Don't you think we're going a bit too far?

- Heaven helps those who help themselves.

- If we don't help the Schoolmaster,
he'll leave, and it'll be like it was before.

- I say only one thing: we're men,
and we're not going to let him go!

- We don't have to be men to do that.

I have a suggestion ...

- Here he comes!

Long live M Pascal!
Long live M Pascal!

One two three four!

♪ Behind these woods there are violets ♪

♪ Hawthorns and rosehips ♪

♪ I tied my bundle with straw ♪

♪ I tied my bundle with a wicker sprig ♪

♪ I go there in the evening to do the picking ♪

♪ With my big clogs and with my apron ♪

♪ I tied my bundle with straw ♪

♪ I tied my bundle with a wicker sprig ♪

♪ I picked so many, my basket was full ♪

♪ To wear them I had to bind them ♪

♪ I tied my bundle with straw ♪

♪ I tied my bundle with a wicker sprig ♪

Long live M Pascal!
Long live M Pascal!

Allo! Connect me to Nice 12-67.

Allo, M Laverdière here, my dear M Bompendi.

I know you have some influence.
I need you to intervene.

- Allo, Mr President?
This is M Saint-Saviole.

I feel it my duty to bring to your attention ...

- Allo! Inspectorate of Schools?

This is the Mayor of Salèzes.

This time, enough is enough.

They organized a strike, sabotaged education.

Education! One of our most sacred rights!

- To cut short any discussion,

and as we are only ten days away
from the School Certificate

I have decided to suspend M Pascal

until an investigation
can shed light on his case.

- My round!

I said he wouldn't be here in three months.
I wasn't wrong.

Cheers!

- Long live M Pascal.That's right, kids!

- Good Lord, the cops.

The Mayor summoned them, in case of trouble.

- Read it again.

- Fifty parents of pupils, delighted with
the teaching given to their children by M Pascal—

- Pascal.

- demand his immediate return.

- My poor Adélaïde, if you'd only seen all the
parents and children leaving for the Certificate.

A real departure for the war.

An expedition led by M Pascal.
- And Albert? Was he there?

- Was he there?
Surrounded like a donkey at the fair.

M Pourpre cut his hair and parted it in the middle.

Mrs. Niou lent him a shirt from
her husband and M Pascal a tie.

- No M Laverdière, you can't have the phone.

- May I ask why?

- Because I'm waiting
in the phone box for the results.

- M Pourpre, please let me in.

- M Laverdière, I'm not moving an inch.

- You'll force me to call the police.

- Go and tell your police that
I'm here by the will of the people.

By the way, I have good news.

You're going to put it in your pocket,
with your handkerchief on top.

They're all in the semi-finals.

- What semi-final?

- You don't understand anything.
That means they all passed the written tests.

And it's the oral exams now.

Allo!

- Four o'clock already, it'll be his turn soon.

- This is the pearl for today!

I ask him: what do we mean by arable land.

He answers: Arabia.

- But wait, you're not done laughing.
Here's one from Sestrières,

who instead of telling me "Charles Martel, Mayor
of the Palace, defeated the Arabs at Poitiers",

told me: "Charles Martel, Mayor of Pas de Calais,
half defeated the Arabs".

- As long as we keep making them learn by rote—

- But my dear chap,
better to learn by rote than not at all.

- Yes.
- Have you finished?

- No, Just stretching my legs a bit.

- The death of Henri IV.

- Look at that—seems we have a large public today.

- Yes, just as well we put up the barriers.

- But are all these people friends
or enemies of M Pascal?

- We pass judgment only on the results.

- I feel like a defendant in the Criminal Court
waiting for judgement.

- You've got good little lawyers.

I'm working it out as we go.
They'll all pass.

- Simonin Albert, number thirteen.

- That's it, they kept Albert to the end.
And he's number thirteen, too.

- Go! Your tie!

- It'll be fine M Pascal.

- Sit down, young man.

I can call you a young man now since
the last time you sat for the Certificate.

You're no longer a child.

You got a good grade this morning
in the written exercises.

These gentlemen were actually surprised.

What subject have you chosen?

Bayard writes to his nephew
to tell him about his campaigns?

No Monsieur, I took the second question:
photography.

Photography?
You prefer photography to the knight Bayard?

- Escallin, Ernest!

Can you see that wink he gives him
every time he asks him a question?

- It's a tic he has in his eyes, M Pascal.

I noticed it right from the start.

- You think so?
- Silence!

- Tell me about the future.
- The future?

- Not the future, the future tense,
the future perfect ...

The future tense and the future perfect!
The future tense and the future perfect!

The future tense and the future perfect!

- These questions are in the syllabus, aren't they?
- Yes.

- Will Albert be able to answer?
- Yes.

- I wouldn't know myself.
-t's true that his eye is annoying.

General science and natural science.

- Coal!

- White coal or black coal, Sir?

I absolutely don't mind.

- White coal is the force obtained
by the use of waterfalls.

The principle consists in installing
a turbine and an alternator

to transform this strength, this energy,
into electrical energy.

Do you want me to draw you a turbine?

- Do you work for an electrician?
- No.

- Then go ahead!

- All those who have finished can leave.
The results will be announced shortly.

- So we're leaving?
- No, we're waiting for Albert.

- I think my little one passed.

- You're not leaving?
- Oh no no.

- Treillot, Michel!
- Simonin, Albert, number thirteen!

- That's it!
- What?

It's arithmetic now.

He'll be fine.
- Thank you my dear fellow.

Next.

- So how did it go?

- Well Scalin, your turn.

- Sit down, Simonin.

Well, my boy, it was you who answered
my question last year

about the standard metre:
the standard metre is a horse?

I think you may have changed your opinion?
- Yes sir.

- I hope you're not going to tell me it's a mare?

- No sir. The standard meter is the ten millionth part
of a quarter of the terrestrial meridian

in platinum iridium, housed at
the Pavillon de Breteuil in Sèvres.

- Well done! Congratulations
on that little feat of memory.

But memory is not everything.

Now, a little test of intelligence.

A pedestrian walks at six kilometres per hour.

At what speed will three pedestrians walk?

A pedestrian walks six kilometres per hour.
At what speed will three pedestrians walk?

A pedestrian walks six kilometres per hour.
At what speed will three pedestrians walk?

A pedestrian walks six kilometres per hour.
At what speed will three pedestrians walk?

- The same.
Unless they chat on the way.

- Yes of course!

Now let's get down to more serious matters.

I hope you don't mind questions about taps.

- No sir.

I learned to calculate the capacity
of a basin with a one litre tin.

- I like that, my boy.

How do you quickly divide a number by 25?

- We can't hear the questions!
- You can't hear the questions?

How do you quickly divide a number by 25?

We multiply it by 4 so we can divide it by 100.

- Very good!

Thank you. And when I say
thank you, I mean it.

Back to your place.
- Good luck.

Don't worry, you'll see.

- The worst is over.

Arithmetic used to be my worst nightmare.

The one in the middle is nice.
- You think so?

- He has a nice face. We'd allow him
communion without confession.

- Very good!

- What would you like me to question you about?

- About Henri IV.

- In that case, tell me the date of death—

of Louis XIV.

Instead of telling me Henri IV,
you should have said: I know all my History.

I still wouldn't have believed you.

Right then, the death of Louis XIV?

You don't know?

Even so, it's a very important date.

Better to learn by rote than not at all.

And since we're in the 15s,

You're going to tell me all
the great 15s in French History.

- But I've already asked him about Arithmetic.
- Yes.

1415?

Agincourt.

1515?

- Marignan.
- Ah! Finally.

1615?

You don't know?

Separations of the first General Estates

and marriage of Louis—Louis—?
- XIII!

- 1715?

I've just told you!
- The death of Louis XIII?

- No! Of Louis XIV!

1815?

Louis XVIII?
- No! Waterloo!

- He has a nice face—!

- Yes!

- Yes well, that wasn't very brilliant.

Let's speak about geography
to see if we'll have better luck.

What's the mountain
that separates France from England?

- Waterloo?

- Silence!

- I think he's got you there, M Jurot!

- Tell me about Brittany.

I can tell you about the little harbours,

about rivers as wide as a sound,

about the weather which is mild,
since they even have palm trees,

mimosas, oleanders,

as in our valleys.

I can tell you

about boat building,

about fishing for lobster, tuna, sardines,

about the seaweed harvest,

about the canning factories.

I can draw a menhir,

or even seashells found on the beach.

Not forgetting the crêpes
which are so good to eat.

- So you've been to Brittany, have you?

- Yes, by correspondence.
- How?

Every week, our class exchanges
texts, letters, drawings,

with little fishermen
from Trégunc, in Finistère.

Each of us has his penfriend.

Yes, I see, you're part of this modern school

where you draw and you don't know
the date of the battle of Agincourt.

Yes, but your Schoolmaster didn't invent anything.

For thirty years I've been
drawing carrots and painting pots.

And did you make a printing press?
- No.

And if it was up to me, it wouldn't
take long to get rid of your printing press.

- All French people have the right
to speak, write and print freely.

- Oh really?

- That's in the Declaration of the Rights of Man.

- No—did you hear that?

Here's a kid who knows about the Rights of Man!

Well M Simonin, you're going to
tell us all about the Rights of Man.

- We call them Rights of Man,

but they are also the rights of women and of children.

I haven't known about it for long.

Until now, I was always told about my duties,

never about my rights.

Six months ago,

I threw a stone at someone's face.

He was a man, and I was a child.

He was stronger than me.

He could have beaten me

or filed a complaint.

Maybe I would have been arrested.

No. He told me I'm a man.

And that it gives me the right
to live and to be happy.

- Yes but please come back to the question.

The date of the Declaration of the Rights of Man?

- Mr Examiner, I'm trying to speak to you
from my heart more than from my memory.

This is the fourth time
I've sat the School Certificate.

I have to pass.

Not so much for me,

but for the others here,
watching me and listening to me.

And behind those walls and those windows,
over there in the village,

there are many, many others
waiting for me to fail or to succeed.

I know I didn't answer all the questions properly.

But what I understood, I remembered.

I didn't know about the battle of Agincourt,

but I do know what the Rights of Man are.

Men are born and remain free and equal in rights.

None of us can be harassed for his opinions.

Because the Law has the right to prohibit
only acts harmful to the community.

Because the Law is the expression of the will of all.

Because the Law must be the same for all.
Both when it punishes, and when it protects.

Because the Law must allow everyone
to achieve according to their capacity.

Regardless of wealth.

And that is because men are born
and remain free and equal in rights.

We passed!
We passed!

- Who's that passing on the road?

- It's Aristide on his way up with the children.

The Schoolmaster is with them.

They look pretty happy!

What are they saying there?
- I can't make it out.

We passed!
We passed!

- They passed!

The young lady's stopped in front of them.

The Schoolmaster's jumping down from the cart.

He's standing in front of her—

They look at each other—

Shake hands—

I don't know what they're saying to each other.

They're walking down to the river.

I can't see them any more.

- We fixed it, it works!

And there was light—

- What are you doing Albert, are you crazy?

- Don't worry, this time they won't say anything.

♪ Under the oak's leaves ♪
♪ I dried myswlf, ♪

♪ I've loved you for so long ♪
♪ I will never forget you ♪

♪ On the highest bough, ♪
♪ a nightingale sang. ♪

♪ Sing, nightingale, sing, ♪
♪ You of the jubilant heart. ♪

♪ I've loved you for so long ♪
♪ I will never forget you ♪

English subtitles by
jeremys and Marseille
TNT 2023