DVD Capsule Review

To Be and To Have (2004)

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'BE' STUDENT Lopez and his heartwarming troupe get an A

Credits

Rated: Unrated; DVD Release Date: Oct 19, 2004; Genres: Documentary, Foreign Language; With: Georges Lopez; Distributor: New Yorker

By Gilbert Cruz

A muted, almost Zenlike meditation on teaching and childhood, To Be and to Have offers an ideal break from this year's spate of overly politicized documentary releases (Fahrenheit 9/11, anyone?). France's highest-grossing documentary film ever depicts a year in the life of dedicated teacher Georges Lopez and his students at a one-room rural schoolhouse in the country's Auvergne region. Balancing a portrait of the stern but calm instructor with the seemingly insignificant moments of the school day, director Nicolas Philibert shows us that even the smallest moments in a child's life can be fraught with drama.

EXTRAS Adorable outtakes of the young students reciting poetry, which raises the question. Would this movie be as great if the kids weren't so cute?

Posted Oct 22, 2004

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