Color, NR (mature themes, language), 117 min, VHS $29.95, DVD $29.95, French with English subtitles
DVD: no extras
Street: Nov. 26, Prebook: Nov. 5
First Run: L, Sept. 2000, <$1 mil.
Cast: Philippe Torreton (Capitaine Conan), Maria Pitarresi (Revenge of the Musketeers), Nadia Kaci, Véronique Ataly
Director: Bertrand Tavernier
FACETS
Story Line: Caring kindergarten teacher Daniel Lefebvre (Torreton) copes on a daily basis with various crises: overcrowded classrooms, undernourished students and a number of unemployed, despairing parents. Daniel maintains an adversarial relationship with local social workers until he meets Samia (Kaci) who recognizes as he does the severe economic troubles affecting their community.
Bottom Line: Tavernier, a director who has worked in several different genres, delivers a superb piece of socially conscious filmmaking. Don't flinch: It All Starts Today isn't a preachy bit of agitprop. Rather, it's a small-town slice of life that exhibits all of the gritty authenticity of the work of Mike Leigh, with a humanist tone reminiscent of Renoir and Truffaut. Fans of more escapist fare may shy away from the film's no-villain approach to its subject--the seemingly neglectful parents Daniel encounters aren't criminal types, just proud people who've fallen on hard times, former members of the middle class who are too embarrassed to admit that they can't afford to feed their children. Light years away from the kind of "inspirational teacher" dramas (Mr. Holland's Opus) that proliferate on video store shelves, this emotionally honest film deserves a push to viewers who enjoy classic Italian heartbreakers (The Bicycle Thief) and modern British "working-class cinema" (a la the films of Leigh and Ken Loach). --Ed Grant