It All Starts Today (1999) User Reviews

So we throw half in the trash, and see what we can do with the others?

[lastliberal · 8/10 · 2 January 2009]

It always happens. When things get tough, local, State, and the federal government save money on the backs of the poor first. Who, besides the poor suffer, the teachers, of course? This is a magnificent story of pre-school teachers coping with abuse, neglect, incest, and all forms of child abuse while the government agencies that are supposed to help just make excuses.

The school is falling apart and being broken into for food, and the school board, and the police do little or nothing to help. Families are coping with 34% unemployment and the resulting depression. Sound familiar? It is also happening all over America, not just in France.

The teacher training even tells new teachers that they will be social workers more than teachers. It is difficult to understand how learning can take place with children who are hungry, cold, and abused.

Philippe Torreton does an excellent job as Daniel Lefebvre in writer/director Bertrand Tavernier's film. His frustration and anger shows whether he is throwing out a child welfare worker or yelling at the Mayor for cutting lunches. All the while he has to deal with problems at home and his ailing father.

A real life's documentary

[Jabberwock · 8/10 · 2 October 1999]

In a region devastated by the closing of coal mines, and where one worker out of three is unemployed, Bertrand Tavernier tells us the problems of a nursery school's director who wants to improve the social conditions of those people.

He is the only hope for depressive parents but bureaucrats want him to look only after the easy cases forgetting about the problem children.

The challenge of throwing more than thirty 3 to 6 years old kids in the scramble as been taken up: their natural is convincing... and it goes for the director too.

I took part wholeheartedly with the pains and joys of the characters and lived it as if it was real life.

Very good social commentary

[Pedro-72 · 7/10 · 9 June 2000]

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

Swift-moving scenes, natural and chaotic

[khatcher-2 · 9/10 · 6 December 2000]

Don't settle down for a comfortable couple of hours easy entertainment. This film carries a message and it will thrash you with it. This is not a film with a stylised story set out in the classical beginning-middle-ending formula; it is a film which swings from scene to scene, at times hectically, with splendid unrehearsed sequences shot with continual changes and panning at frequently too high speed, swinging from schoolmaster to clusters of young faces, zooming in on one, lifting up to worried mothers bursting in, and back down to the schoolmaster, at trepidating speed, breathlessly, at whatever price, because the important thing was to get it all as it happened, how it happened; no way of organising thirty little kids to do the scene again: it would be just too artificial and useless.

The price is some lack of focussing, but it is worth the end result: Alain Choquart under Tavernier's orders achieves something monumental, something magical as his agility with the camera swoops around the school capturing every taut smile, every nervous finger-twisting, the first tears from a hysterical mother... Bertrand Tavernier comes out of that French school of film-making to which he adhered for most of his earlier output and from which he tried to break away with risky excursions into adventure cinema in 'La Fille DE D'Artagnan' (which must have worried Alexandre Dumas) and 'Capitaine Conan' (which must have worried quite a lot of people), as if in a desperate attempt to reach Hollywood-tradition epic proportions.

With 'Ça commence aujourd'hui' everything comes back to earth with a rather nasty bump: Tavernier gets down to the gritty bits of sordid suburbs on the edge of an industrial city (Lille) where in most families the father of the household is either out of work, or drunk, or both, or has run away; the local schoolmaster takes it on himself to fill the rôle of father, a job which Phillipe Torreton carries out brilliantly, aided and abetted by his girl-friend, Maria Pitarresi, who doesn't.

But perhaps the brilliance of the film resides in the sheer pace, as the cameraman has to keep his wits about him so as not to lose those gestures, in what must be the nearest thing to live, unrehearsed cinema: above all in the rapid shots among the small children, where there is no acting or interpretation - it is all too direct, too immediate for any kind of infantile amateur acting classes.

There may be a few technical weaknesses due to the way in which the film just had to be made, but the end result is monumental, a brilliant though agonising document.

Every European politician should be forced to see it: maybe a few of them would wake up and decide to do something useful.

A genuine portrait of a teacher.

[dbdumonteil · 9 November 2002]

A very mediocre French series "l'instit" contributed to giving the audience a false picture of the schoolteacher.In that poor sitcom ,actor Gerard Klein was some kind of superhero (on a motorcycle!) who acted like a pacifist Zorro or K2000.

Bertrand Tavernier and his wonderful thespian ,Philippe Torreton,de la Comédie Française set the record straight.First of all,this is a true story,inspired by a schoolteacher's books.And Tavernier is an artist whose best works ("l'horloger de Saint-Paul" "la mort en direct" and his masterpiece" la vie et rien d'autre")deal with the dignity of man. And as the title says "the future begins today" as everything is possible when the man's young can still wonder,discover,and ... perhaps love the world before he discovers the darker side of it.Because ,for most of the children we meet in this movie,the darker side is at their door,inside their houses,and School is the only way for them of getting away with a somber future.There are courageous lines against the Champagne socialists -When the movie was released,there were commies in the French government-"I could have expected more from a communist mayor!" the teacher says to the notable who closes the canteen to the children whose family is no longer able to pay.There is a very realistic scene between the teacher and his inspector.Although the former 's work is admirable,the state employee slags him off because he's blind and deaf to the world outside him,all he wants to do is to climb the upper rungs of the social ladder .Never the inspector hints at the children's plight,his narrow-minded view remains abstract and completely mindless:how could a group of four year old toddlers be autonomous?

A Tribute to the teachers ,who now more than ever need gratefulness and understanding,Tavernier's movie is deeply moving and deserves to be highly recommended.He equals Kenneth Loach here,not a small feat.

Not every superhero wears a cape

[Red-125 · 10/10 · 17 August 2020]

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.

The real Kindergarten cop

[=G= · 7/10 · 7 November 2003]

"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)

A declaration of love to the children!

[flo_boris · 10/10 · 2 April 2000]

"Ca commence aujourd'hui" is a poetic film without poetry: Tavernier narrate the fictitious story in sober, cold, unspectacular pictures, that nevertheless move to tears.

The social and emotional cruelties are not shown, but they are always existent and take shape in the mind of the spectator. Tavernier succeeds excellent in connecting individual and group destinies to portray a society that query the right of some children to exist. It's a very impressing and important film, because of its clear moral and unconditional declaration of love to the children.

TRES BIEN

[kevin c · 6/10 · 20 February 2001]

With a definite nod to Loach, Tavernier has produced an excellent educational tale. A film that manages to be depressing, heartwarming, and will have you tearing your heart out. Perhaps a tad sentimental ending, but it carries the message and narrative well.

An eye-opener, because it shows a side of France barely shown by cinema aside from the likes of "La Haine".

A heart-rending masterpiece

[sediwell · 10/10 · 18 February 2000]

Bertrand Tavernier continues to prove he is one of the master modern directors. Although he made his name with a series of stunning period dramas his recent dissections of the failure of modern French society have been equally brilliant and It All Starts Today is his greatest yet. This simple tale of a struggling school master in a depressed suburb to care for his young charges in the face on uncaring bureaucracy and emotionally destroyed parents is a heart rending masterpiece from start to finish. If any foreign language film deserved the Oscar this is it.

Six for effort. Could do better.

[davek28 · 6/10 · 14 April 2001]

I don't know why I watched this film to the end. I recorded it from TV so I could have pressed STOP at any time. It's not like anything happened.

As a slice of life, it was very well produced -- and the lead character must have spent a lot of time with the children to get to know them so well.

However, it didn't really go anywhere. So it made the point that it's a tough life for parents and kids in a run-down neighbourhood. I could have guessed that anyway. And why did our activist hero have to have an attractive sculptor girlfriend? I'm not sure that this conformed to the otherwise gritty realism of the film.

Six out of dix for effort.

Schools worse than a century ago?

[silverauk · 9/10 · 20 February 2003]

If we see the movie by Bertrand Tavernier, we could draw a conclusion that schools nowadays in France are worse than let us say before the First World War. Apparently there are not sufficient financial means for the schools and the teachers are confronted with the enormous task of holding everything together. The schoolmaster Daniël Lefebre (Philippe Torreton) manages to be as well a celebration-organizer, a social worker, a psycho-therapeutist, a pediatrist and ... a good teacher. Does he have a private life? He must be an idealist. As long as such people continue to work for the good of the upcoming youth, our civilization has less chances to fall apart. This movie is an encouragement for all good teachers in the world.

Germinal country

[jotix100 · 7/10 · 23 February 2012]

A brave teacher in charge of a preschool located in a depressed area, is at the center of this wonderful story of perseverance and courage. Daniel, is a selfless man that must fight constantly in order to get a meager help from the local authorities that instead of providing for his young charges, take away most of the assistance to the school, a demoralizing situation which Daniel must confront head on.

The area in which the school is located was a big center for mining. The mines are long gone, but for people like Daniel's father, now living permanently with respiratory problems, it is hard to survive when even jobs have moved elsewhere. Daniel is more interested in the welfare of the families, some living without heat in their homes, having seen their electricity cut off. Daniel is an eternal optimist which shows in his work with the small kids in his care.

Daniel is involved romantically with Valeria, an sculptor, with a small boy from a former relationship. Remi, the boy, has all the makings he will fall into gangs that have nothing better than vandalize the school, only to derail what Daniel has fought for with his teaching staff. Fortunately, he gets help from a social worker, Samia, who joints forces with Daniel fighting the bureaucracy.

Bernard Tavernier, working on the screenplay with his daughter Tiffany, and Domenique Sampiero, created the right atmosphere in which to frame this story that rings so true and speaks volumes about the crisis most depressed areas have to deal with, not only in France, but in Europe, as well. The film is uplifting because in Daniel one sees an individual who will not hesitate to give his best in nurturing these vulnerable little minds adapt to the world around them. The story is told with realism, showing at the same time the evils in a society where despair takes hold of the people whose lives have changed forever.

In Philippe Torreton, the director found a credible actor who shows an intelligence that surprises in his approach of playing Daniel. The actor impresses for his passionate approach to the role. Mr. Torreton has worked with Mr. Tavernier before, showing at ease with what the director wanted of him. The lovely Maria Pitarresi appears as Daniel's love interest, Valeria, and Nadia Kaci plays Samia.

simple plot but great, tender and bitter, it makes you think

[Jak-21 · 5 November 1999]

One of those films about human stories that touches you since the very first moment. Those who like real human stories with something deep and authentic to say must see this movie. Touching performance by its main character Phillipe Torreton and amazingly realistic performance by the children appearing, many times 20 or 30 at same time. If you want to see pure cinema and identify with the characters, this a must see for you

well done but preachy

[planktonrules · 9/10 · 4 November 2005]

I really liked this film despite it being, at times, preachy. Having been a social worker and now a school teacher and having worked with many dysfunctional families like the ones portrayed in the film, I could definitely relate to the overwhelmed and well-meaning kindergarten director. Although set in France, it sure looked like some of our American schools because of child abuse, substance abuse as well as an overly bureaucratic system that didn't seem to do anything to help. The acting was also a standout, as the characters were very believable and it looked in many ways more like a documentary starring real people than a film. About the only negatives I could see were the preachiness of the film at times and also the apparent message that more money needs to be spent to deal with these problems. Although having become VERY jaded by my experiences in the field, I don't think money is the answer but enforcing accountability by the politicians, social workers, parents and teachers is the key. As we see in the movie, it's VERY easy to come with excuses why NOT to work for change but actually doing something takes someone special.

The REAL heroes are here

[groggo · 10/10 · 31 July 2007]

Bertrand Tavernier is a highly skilled writer and director, and here, with co-scenarist Dominique Sampiero, he comes at you head-on: if you want to find the REAL heroes in our society, don't look for cops, robbers, movie stars or sports figures. The REAL heroes could be living next door to you, or you could be one yourself. You just haven't received societal canonization yet.

Given the material, It All Starts Today could easily have been a mawkish melodrama, a kind of Good Will Hunting with kindergarten kids. The marvelous thing about Tavernier's direction is that, if anything, he understates what he so sincerely wants to tell you. That's no small feat when you have an army of adorable kids flitting in and out of camera range.

This is a deceptively simple story about a committed but deeply frustrated schoolteacher in northern France named Daniel Lefebvre (played by Philippe Torreton). Faced with a gutted coal industry in his home town that has left more than one-third of the citizens unemployed, Lefebvre fights hard to motivate and inspire parents to keep their children in school. The film doesn't preach, it doesn't rant or rave: it merely SHOWS you the exasperation that all but consumes everyone in the wake of economic near-disaster.

Torreton is absolutely devastating and charismatic as the frantic Lefebvre. He just takes over the screen even as he becomes part of it You don't believe he's acting, which someone said is the sign of a great actor.

What Tavernier is saying is extremely important in this ridiculous age of pop culture, where no-talent 'artists' grab attention and the emotions of young people. They are heroic simply because they're famous, and they're famous because they're heroic. Or something. Watch this film and you'll see teachers, social workers, parents and children who are the REAL heroes of the world.

Loach-ish

[etai · 7/10 · 29 October 2000]

I wouldn't want to spoil the party so, yes, this film is an important look at the serious social problems inherent in France and the lack of ability and care of the authorities to do anything about it. Yes, it is hard hitting. Yes, the camera work is exceptionally beautiful and masterfully handled.

But, I can't seem to get rid of the weird feeling I get when a (approx.) two hour film tries to condense so many problems into such a short time. The dialogue becomes self righteous and totally unbelievable. Also, the characters were unbelievable either. The main character is conveyed as an almost angelic do-gooder who can do no harm. His partner, as well, is dissappointing - it is just too obvious to take a georgous wild sculptress to help decorate the film. A friend suggested to me that the partner's one dimensional role suggests sexually discriminatory undertones.

a film with both the poetry and the hardness of life

[gemma-5 · 10/10 · 7 January 2000]

Ça commence aujourd´hui is a film that allows to know life as it is. Through the life of the school´s children we approached the atmosphere of desolation of an old French mining town. At the same time, we approached the personal situation of the professor who is the conductive thread of history. The life breathed in the landscapes. To feel the near life and to experience the love and the pain, the happiness and the anguish, the vitality and the apathy.

Great acting, but preachy and lacking a real plot

[gonz30 · 7/10 · 25 April 1999]

This film would have been a fantastic documentary. Its contrived plot to make the statement is laid on so thick, it cannot even be saved by Cesar winner and Academie Francaise secretary Philippe Torreton's superb acting. It would have made more sense to spread the film's budget among the needy of this desperately problematic, depressed French town.

Absolutely terrific!

[vanvic68 · 9/10 · 27 December 1999]

Realism at its best. After "Captain Conan" and "Act 627", this must be the best Tavernier. The film has the essence of what a European look on social matters is. It moves you and leads you to a state of complete identification not only with the "hero" of the film, but also with the whole village dwellers. Their pain is your pain. Tavernier manages to create an atmosphere where people are real by letting the camera follow the protagonists and avoiding stupid camera movements and takes. Life is usually lived without make-up. Certainly, this is the kind of film Americans won't shoot and award. When you see it, you ought to pause and think.

Another French sad sad story

[ayric · 7/10 · 15 January 2000]

French realism must be the worst film category anyone has come up with so far. But this is a far too important and well done movie to give a bad review. It is a good movie, but it is rather boring and all it does is to say that France sucks and I have gotten the point many movies ago. I sure hope someone will save France soon so they can make some entertaining and happy movies. - 6/10

Wonderful film transforms mundane subject matter.

[thorenj · 8/10 · 25 April 2003]

This is a film concerning a fairly mundane topic - problems in a small-town school. Through masterful cinematography and storytelling, Bertrand Travernier constructs a fascinating and heartwarming film. The acting is excellent throughout despite some of the characters being played by people who are not professional actors. The leading roles are full multi-dimensional and fully engaging, The non-professionals are honest and convincing.

The dvd commentary by Travernier is also worth a watch, as he points out many significant background details, and explains the interactions between the real town and townspeople, and the actors and movie production.

This is not an american action film, but never leaves the viewer bored, and does not play on cheap emotions.

It's about the children

[howard.schumann · 27 January 2003]

"Teaching tugs at the heart, opens the heart, even breaks the heart, And the more one loves teaching, the more heartbreaking it can be." - Parker Palmer, a veteran educator

Daniel Lefebvre (Philippe Torreton) is teacher and director of the école maternelle, a pre-school open to children ages 2 to 6 in northern France. In Bernard Tavernier's deeply moving film, It All Starts Today, the children are the stars. Their faces and loving smiles shine through the grimness of their circumstances. Based on the notebooks of Tavernier's son-in-law Dominique Sampiero, a provincial teacher, the film is about the difficulties and challenges of children but is also a tribute to the courage and commitment of teachers. Lefebvre is a poet whose voice-over narration adds a touching lyricism to the film. "We'll tell our children it was hard", he writes. "Piles of stones placed one by one. We'll tell the children it was hard but their fathers are lords and this is their legacy. A pile of stones and the courage to lift them".

The school is in a town that has been hit hard by the closure of the coal mine, and where unemployment has reached 34 percent. Lefebvre is a gentle and compassionate teacher but a tough administrator who tries to shake the political bureaucracy into providing adequate programs for the school. He protests loudly against budget cuts and insensitive government regulations and the shortage of trained professionals. Lefebvre shows anger and frustration in the scene where he slams the door in the face of a visiting social worker, and when he storms into the Mayor's office to rail against cutbacks in the school lunch program. He is hardest on himself, however, when tragedy befalls an alcoholic mother and her family, and when his common-law wife Valeria's (Maria Pitteresi) young son Remi (Lambert Marchal) gets into trouble, challenging his commitment to return to the school the following year.

The problems of the school are severe but not exaggerated. Being the husband of a pre-school teacher I know the kinds of circumstances that parents and teachers face every day and they are not that different from those shown in the film. Tavernier does not idealize the poor or romanticize their circumstances but shows us conditions as they exist. This is a message film and we do get the message, but it doesn't seem preachy because it comes from a passion that springs naturally from the lives of the characters. But the magic of the film lies in the children themselves. There is no acting or interpretation. The camera zooms around the school with lightning speed catching the spontaneity of the children singing, dancing, talking, playing, and just being themselves. It All Starts Today does not offer any simple solutions and can be dark, but, at the end, when each child comes up to the camera for a final smile I felt only lightness and joy. Being around children and adults with courage will do that.

Back To School Days

[valis1949 · 9/10 · 23 January 2011]

IT ALL STARTS TODAY (dir. Betrand Tavernier) has the look and feel of an actual documentary, and the film delineates the trials and tribulations of the director of an impoverished municipal kindergarten in rural France. With almost no parental or government support, he and his teachers try to make a positive difference in the community against almost insurmountable odds. The film is a heartfelt and poignant Call To Arms for a better and more effective strategy for the social service sector of the French economy. The Populist appeal of IT ALL STARTS TODAY is very reminiscent of the English director, Ken Loach. IT ALL STARTS TODAY is easily one of the finer films about primary education ever made.

Generous

[hubertguillaud · 10/10 · 28 January 2022]

Powerful, generous, impulsive, implacable! Cinema as close as possible to the field and to social issues... Yes, it's almost too much, but when it comes to social issues, you can never do enough! Ca commence aujourd'hui will certainly remain as Tavernier's great film, unvarnished, glued to the world, glued to people to bring out their distress, their humanity and to carry the real with them!