Cast: Philippe Torreton, Maria Pitarresi, Nadia Kaci, Veronique Ataly, Nathalie Becue, Emmanuelle Bercot, Francoise Bette
Director: Bertrand Tavernier
Producers: Alain Sarde, Frédéric Bourboulon
Screenplay: Dominique Sampiero, Tiffany Tavernier, Bertrand Tavernier
Cinematography: Alain Choquart
Music: Louis Sclavis
U.S. Distributor: Independent Artists Group
In French with subtitles
It is rightly claimed that children represent the future, and, as such, their education must be the primary goal of today's society. This is not just a parochial problem; it is a matter of importance in every civilized nation, and it should come as no surprise to Americans to learn that some of the same concerns associated with schooling, day care, and medical care are as crucial on the other side of the Atlantic as they are here. Just because the French have declared themselves to be the world's leaders in artistic enlightenment doesn't mean that they have all the answers. In fact, as Ça Commence Aujourd'hui demonstrates, that's far from the case.
Ça Commence Aujourd'hui is the latest film from respected director Bertrand Tavernier (Capitaine Conan, Around Midnight), who uses his cinematic canvas to highlight some of the political and bureaucratic deficiencies inherent in that portion of the French education system referred to as the école maternelle (a pre-school program open to children ages 2 to 6). Like British director Ken Loach, who is known for his relentless and unflinching social commentary, Tavernier fearlessly takes on the public education program. The result, while not exactly an exposé of how the realities of the system have sabotaged the ideology underlying it, represents an unvarnished look at how things really are, and the kinds of difficulties faced by parents and teachers when poverty and statistics conspire against them.
The setting is a pre-school near Valenciennes in the North of France. Daniel Lefebvre (Philippe Torreton, who previously starred as the title character in Capitaine Conan) is both the director of the school and a teacher, and he faces a number of problems, chief of which are a lack of funding and a complete indifference from the local branch of social services. The community, once a thriving mining town, is now mired in poverty as a result of rampant unemployment. Parents have no work, and, consequently, no money with which to pay the non-mandatory, quarterly "contribution" that allows the school to provide their children with the necessary extras. Meanwhile, Daniel is having difficulties scheduling medical checkups for his students because the Child Welfare Service Department would as soon hang up on him as offer him assistance.
Never one to sit back and meekly allow circumstances to go from bad to worse, Daniel becomes a crusader on the part of his children and their parents. He is aided by two women - his sculptor girlfriend, Valeria (Maria Pitarresi), who loves the kids almost as much as Daniel, and a pediatric nurse named Samia (Nadia Kaci), who proves that all social workers are not tangled in red tape. Together, the three of them attempt to take on the system, albeit with mixed results. While their activism results in small victories, there are some things it cannot prevent, including the most poignant tragedy of Daniel's teaching career.
The foundation of Ça Commence Aujourd'hui lies in its strong character identification and effective performances. This is not a plot-oriented motion picture. The screenplay, written by école maternelle director Dominique Sampiero; his wife, Tiffany Tavernier; and his father-in-law, Bertrand Tavernier, relates a number of real-life vignettes about some of the trials that an activist teacher/director must endure. But this is not a traditional storyline based on conflict and resolution. As a result, the characters and their relationships take on added meaning, and that's where Ça Commence Aujourd'hui shines. Not only are the three primary adults (Daniel, Valeria, and Samia) well developed and passionately portrayed, but the children perform flawlessly. Especially noteworthy is young Kelly Mercier, who plays a key role as Laetitia - she exhibits an unfeigned charm.
Tavernier's style is documentary-like, although there are two qualities that belie that approach. There is a voiceover narrative that recites poetic prose and the aspect ratio is a widescreen 2.35:1. These two artifacts ensure that we're always aware that this is a feature, not a strict account of actual events - an impression that might otherwise easily be assumed considering the across-the-board strength of the acting, the natural quality of the childrens' work, and the frequent improvisation required. Nevertheless, even though the exact characters and events portrayed in Ça Commence Aujourd'hui are not true-to-life, they are based on genuine anecdotes, and Tavernier's message has real import: if we allow the educational system to continue in its decline, we will all end up paying the price in the future. The young faces that his camera captures in close-up at the end emphasize this simple, stark fact. This is a truism that resonates not only in Europe, but across the whole of the civilized world, and Ça Commence Aujourd'hui humanizes the message by applying it to several specific instances with characters we come to care about.
© 2000 James Berardinelli