Entre les murs (Collection Folio (Gallimard))

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So, out of the corner of our eyes, we see the girl who absent-mindedly twirls a loop of hair round her finger, the boy who balances backwards in his chair against the wall and the unexplained fits of giggles and whispers. She said he was really good because he pushed you to the end of an argument so that you end up wanting to prove yourself to him.

And as the kids break free for the summer, Cantet's final shots remain in the empty classroom, allowing us time to contemplate all of the issues that his film has raised. Neither side gives ground, and yet the fact that François has to argue it out on the asphalt, on equal terms, is a kind of humbling, a swallowing of pride. The title — both in French and in its English translation — reflects the perspective adopted in the film: everything happens “between the walls” (the literal translation of “entre les murs”) of the school and the classroom, and we follow the life of teachers and students from the beginning to the end of a school year. The Class is an honest, heartfelt and consistently entertaining portrayal that maintains a level of realism that will keep its viewers constantly reminding themselves that they're not watching a documentary -- it's difficult to think of much higher praise to heap on the film than that. At the beginning it was very difficult to put myself in the skin of the character but then I got into the clothes that he wears and it helped," he admits.At Cannes it became the first French film to win the Palme d'Or for 21 years and was described by Sean Penn, the chairman of the jury, as "magic".

The comparison is legitimate but a bit weak, mostly because The Class focuses less on the Greeek tragedy structure typical of school-set dramas. The English-language version of Entre les murs was published in April 2009 by Seven Stories Press under the title The Class. Its themes are universal, and the questions it provokes about cultural identity, discipline, and the way we teach and learn should resonate with any viewers who seek out this marvellous film.It features standout performances from the young actors - real pupils who made the movie in their holidays.

Standouts include Esmeralda Ouertani as the quick-witted but obnoxious Esmeralda, who is unafraid of offering her opinion on Marin's teaching methods; Rachel Régulier as the sullen Khoumba, whose refusal to read an extract aloud threatens to undermine the teacher's authority; and Franck Keita, as the volatile Souleymane, whose fate is the key question in the film's second half. It was bizarre seeing my head so big," says Rachel Régulier, 17, who plays Khoumba, a tricky and complex student who emerges as one of the film's main characters. It often comes across as a docu-drama: some classroom scenes are improvised and others are based on real-life incidents, so it has a very authentic feel overall. This story builds quietly, almost invisibly, through the film, and culminates in the disciplinary hearing in which Souleymane's non-French-speaking mother is present and in which the gloweringly silent and defiant pupil must translate her passionate and heartbreaking defence of him as a good boy.Cantet's final tableau shots of the empty classroom, like a deserted battlefield, made the hairs on the back of my neck prickle. After a disciplinary hearing at which Souleymane is supported by his mother, for whom he has to translate, he is ultimately expelled. This insistence on showing things as they really are extended to the multicultural make-up of the class - for many of the teenage actors the film provided an opportunity for a positive portrayal of a neighbourhood more usually associated with the 2007 riots in the Paris suburbs.