The tree and the chrysalis

Seriously? I seem to have been caught in the crossfire of the latest pissing contest between Google and Microsoft. "Your browser," I am told--that being the default browser for the vast majority of PC users--"is no longer supported by Blogger. Some parts of Blogger will not work and you may experience problems. If you are having problems, try Google Chrome." I have a better idea: why don't you try blowing me. I think maybe if I experience problems, I'll look for another blog host.

Monsieur Lazhar

Crit

Someone I saw this with commented with some heat that while it was a pleasant enough film, it was completely implausible in its presentation of a man trying to persuade a bunch of women to allow schoolchildren to confront a terrible experience. As a certified Sensitive Guy, I was a little insulted, but I uncharacteristically kept my counsel, perhaps because the speaker, far from speaking theoretically, has recent devastating experience. So I'll grant that the film may not play the emotional percentages in that respect.

Still, from my perspective, this is as beautiful a film about children and death as can be imagined: Bashir, who has immigrated from Algeria to Montreal, replaces the elementary schoolteacher who has hanged herself in her classroom. Two of her students see her, and all are traumatized by the violation of their trust and their sacred space of learning and living.

As the story proceeds, we learn that Bashir himself is motivated by a need to deal with tragedy, and even the butt of the class's jokes has his own background of ugly mortality--all, young and adult, having to deal with unjust burdens. And they all are granted some measure of grace, but no easy answers.