"Starter" is the name of an experimental programme that collects 15 girls and boys expelled from their colleges to offer them a second start. A good start offers us a slice of their lives, to these teenage dropouts, not to mention their hard teachers, their families, their loved ones. A luminous documentary, to be discovered during its release in physical format.
Contrasts
Contrast films. That of the Grenoblais mountains that surround the city, in the foreground of which the HLM sleep, imperturbable. The same literary texts affixed to the rich language of another vocabulary, trickling, manipulating the new slang. The one, finally, of young people dumped, sometimes revolted, often angry, facing the unstoppable calm of one of their teachers, Antoine Gentil. An unordinary teacher, since with a handful of other teachers, he manages the class « Starter ». A specific programme, drawing up about 15 young people who have been repelled by the school system: delinquency, health problems, family problems, psychological problems, etc. The reasons for dropping out are multiple, all completely different profiles. A good start will follow them for a year.
We were talking about it in introduction, A good start already rooted in a land, that of Grenoble. The city between Drac and Isère is increasingly home to a decentralized cinema – this was the case for The Great Bath, it was more recently with Night of the 12th – and no doubt she infuses the plans of the film dAgnes Molia and Xabi Molia. For despite the strength of their subject, despite the power of the interactions that glaze the film (which we will talk about below), the duo of directors does not forget to make it an object of cinema, with strong imagery and marked geographical anchor. The city, as well as the very carcan of the class, come to life, animate, leaving room for different frames to unfold.
Real distillation
Let us start with the only flat that will be ascribed to A good startIt's the camera placement. Often too close to his subjects, at least at the beginning of the project, the objective seems to instill false in interactions... One feels the curious look, attracted by the voyyyy focal point, one guesses the false verb on some scenes, especially with the parents of the pupil. Then quickly, the camera will be able to get forgotten: on the one hand because the students will get used to its presence, on the other hand because it will be able to take more and more distance from its subjects. To get away from them, to better capture them. And the process that issued false will then capture Contrario an accuracy in the exchanges that will unfold throughout the film.
The cinema of bad seeds
And A good start is part of a line of French cinema that is passionate about filming its « bad seeds »... If the first film that comes to mind is obviously the palm Between the walls of the Laurent Cantet – with which A good start shares the pleasure of the non-narrative – there are many more recent examples: School Life, The Heirs, The Great Spirits, Bad Herbs And so many others. So many feature films which, for the most part, dwell too much on their script intricacies to manage to capture any real one. And what's exciting is thatA good start, by completely detaching itself from narrative constraints – the school year of a class is by essence a succession of dissociated stories from each other – manages not only to paint an exciting portrait of realism but totally embarks its spectator.
Immediate boarding
And the way to harpoon us is simple and about: image. Just the image. The duo of filmmakers will not stifle an explanatory voice-off, nor interviews with the camera, but will simply arrange slices of lives. The well-named Antoine Gentil, one of the teachers, the students whose miseries mark the camera, the disillusioned parents, sometimes completely lost, but also the light... Hopes. The cooperation of the craftsmen who accept them in internship. Scrolling seasons. Stress before pushing the door to the end of the year. Fears. The doubts. Eyes foggy with bad news. Cold court decisions. The camera captures everything and projects us, so that at the end of the film it is the tight throat that we leave this class not like the others. Last outbursts at the announcement of the results, then the final sponge blow against the blackboard. The lights turn off, the door closes. The school year ends, with its failures and successes, but with the certainty of having been able to give a second chance to these young people who no one wanted.
« But what about his eyes? Looking towards the sky makes me nostalgic and staring at the floor, regret something and remember that we don't both are equally overwhelming. Then you have to look ahead to yourself, at his height, whatever level the foot is temporarily laid. »
The notebooks on fire...
...but the teacher certainly not in the middle. For if the year ends on a rather positive note, despite a few failures, it is the collective enthusiasm around the tutoring figure of the teacher that is pleased to see. So let's finish this paper on A good start – One of the most exciting documentaries of the year 2022 and now available in physical format – by a quote from Bernard-Marie Koltès. The French writer Antoine Gentil reads to his class, thus offering a troubling mirror to the revolt in each of the teenagers facing him.
Data sheet
DVD Zone B (France)
Publisher: Blaq Out
Duration: 94 min
Release Date: March 07, 2023
Video format : 576p/25 - 2.39
Soundtrack : French Dolby Digital 5.1 (and 2.0)
Subtitles French
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