To Be and to Have

A great deal of charm and some pointed observation fuel director-editor Nicolas Philibert's To Be and to Have, a sweet and poignant slice-of-life French hit documentary that paints an evocative portrait of a dedicated teacher and 13 students (ages 4-11) who attend a one-room schoolhouse in central France's rural Auvergne. On the verge of retirement, Georges Lopez, who instructs his charges in everything from alphabet and coloring books to cooking and math, shows almost supernatural patience in tending to the children's educational needs, as well as their personal problems--at times he's as much a counselor and surrogate parent as a teacher. Like Harry in the wonderful documentary about national spelling bee hopefuls Spellbound, there's a scene-stealer here as well: JoJo, a tyke who is often behind in his work and a bit of a troublemaker, but also cheekily lovable, even when he and an equally petite classmate tussle with a copy machine (which, we're later shown, is suddenly in need of servicing). Although To Be and to Have is intended as a kind of sociological study as well as a snapshot of an individual place (there's apparently a movement afoot in France to do away with the sort of tiny local schools depicted here in favor of more efficient, centralized ones, and the film certainly suggests what might be lost by their elimination), it's the particulars rather than any larger thesis that will delight all but the most curmudgeonly of viewers. Highly recommended. [Note: DVD extras include a subtitled interview with filmmaker Nicolas Philibert (20 min.), three minutes of student poetry recitations, and trailers. Bottom line: a small but solid extras package for an excellent documentary.] (F. Swietek)