This film is an excellent commentary of the sheer difficulties in trying to improve a bad situation when the whole system - from the families involved to the political authorities - are effectively working against you. It shows that it is vital to persevere because to give up would be awful. Its ultimately optimistic about the strength of the human spirit but scathing about the corrupting and degrading influence of the system.

The only criticisms are that the camera technique was very fluid which meant that the picture was always moving up and down, in and out of focus. This was interesting but quite taxing on the eyes. Also, it was perhaps half an hour longer than it could have been so it dragged somewhat in places. But a very good film. 4/5

"It All Starts Today" is an open ended slice-of-life tale which takes us into the world of a good-hearted, dedicated, and hard working French Kindergarten teacher who has a lot more on his plate than finger painting. Protag Daniel (Torrenton) not only teaches but runs interference for abused kids, wrestles with the local mayor for funding, contends with vandals, and juggles a host of economic, social, and school political issues all the while maintaining a relationship with his girl friend and her son. Though there isn't much of an arc to the story, this well crafted film does create a likeable character who shows us that the opportunity for heroism exists everywhere in life...even kindergarten. (B)

The French Film Ça commence aujourd'hui (1999) was shown in the U.S. with the title It All Starts Today. Bertrand Tavernier was the co-writer and director.

The movie takes place in a small French city that has been devastated by the closure of the mines and the mills that provided employment. Now, the pattern of people without hope asserts itself--violence, crime, vandalism, and child abuse.

As would be expected, the schools are understaffed and underfunded. The mayor even cuts off school lunches for children who are too poor to pay. It's truly grim.

However, there are superheroes at work--the teachers who come to school and do their best every day despite so many obstacles in their path. Philippe Torreton brilliantly portrays Daniel Lefebvre, who is a classroom teacher and also the school principal.

Against all odds, he keeps the school running and maintains morale. The children adore him, and so do the other teachers. We don't normally call educators superheroes, but many of them are. Lefebvre is one of them.

My thought is that you could transfer this film to any U.S. economically depressed city or neighborhood, and it would work just as well. We know what the problems are. Now we have to try to help the teachers do their job.

The movie worked well on the small screen. It has a solid IMDb rating of 7.4, but I thought that it was much better than that, and rated it 10.