The Teachers' Room, Bolero, My Mother's Life... Films to see or avoid this week

A series of thefts in a school disrupt the lives of teachers and students. Carla Nowak, teacher, is leading the investigation. Very quickly, the entire establishment is shaken by his discoveries.

The film is strong. He avoids any Manichaeism, describes from the inside the scenes of a profession, opts for a narrow format image which surrounds the plot in a Kafkaesque setting, all to a haunting violin tune. The suspense is there. The Teachers' Room, by Ilker Çatak, represents Germany at the Oscars. We hope that voters will give it 10 out of 10.

La Salle des Profs , drama d'Ilker Çatak, with Leonie Benesch, Michael Klemm, Rafael Stachowiak, Anne-Kathrin Gummich. 1 h 39

Also read: Our review of La Salle des profs: a downside

The succession is assured. Nearly ten years later, Céline Sciamma's Band of Girls has found its worthy heirs. They are Djeneba, Amina and Zineb, a great trio of 15-year-old friends, heroines of HLM Pussy, the very successful first feature film by Nora El Hourch.

Life for a teenage girl in the suburbs hasn't changed that much, but

We are quickly won over by the contagious energy of the film, on a fine line between drama and comedy. Always very accurate, never caricatured, he carries us away. Won by the performances of the three actresses, Leah Aubert (Amina), Médina Diarra (Djeneba), Salma Takaline (Zineb), we are betting that we will see them again very quickly. The other roles, just as interesting, are not left out. Nora El Hourch portrays each character with great nuance, without falling into crude Manichaeism.

An ode to friendship and feminism, a story of emancipation, HLM Pussy is as joyful as it is impactful, committed as it is poignant. A beautiful discovery hidden behind a title that sounds like a saving war cry.

HLM Pussy , drama by Nora El Hourch, with Leah Aubert, Médina Diarra, Salma Takaline. 1:41 a.m.

Also readOur review of HLM Pussy: the suburbs in women's clothing

Pierre (William Lebghil) is a florist. Between the Rungis market and the store, he barely has time to fall in love with Alison Wheeler. Judith, his mother, comes back into his life without warning. She has the features of Agnès Jaoui. In her red coat, she initially appears whimsical, talkative, excessive. Pierre's disquietude suggests something less joyful. Judith is bipolar. Pierre wants to bring her back to his clinic. She climbs the towers, flirts with the first biker who comes along, sings loudly at karaoke.

We recognize the symptoms of the illness, the manic and depressive phases. My Mother's Life is not the description of a clinical case. Julien Carpentier films the painful and tender reunion of a mother and son. Jaoui plays on a wire. Lebghil no longer makes people laugh. He squeezes his heart.

La Vie de ma Mère , dramatic comedy by Julien Carpentier, with Agnès Jaoui and William Lebghil. Duration: 1 hour 45 minutes

Also read: Agnès Jaoui: “Retirement does not exist in our profession”

Le Boléro is like Paris-Orléans during rush hour: there are every quarter of an hour. This captivating theme, repeated seventeen times to the point of obsession, in an immense crescendo which culminates in catastrophe, would remain, according to a statistician, the most performed classical work in the world. In the sixteen minutes that the piece lasts, it is true that we hardly have time to get bored. Quite the opposite of the overly hesitant film that Anne Fontaine devotes to the gestation of Maurice Ravel's masterpiece. The first images of the credits, a laborious video montage of covers of all genres - sometimes ad nauseam - of the Boléro theme give the color: that of a film which is going nowhere. By wanting to stick too closely to her subject, would the director, whose love of music is beyond doubt, have ended up embracing its form? That of a score which, if not free from music, refuses any development?

Raphaël Personnaz convinces in the role of the composer. He was not content with losing ten kilos and taking up piano and conducting in earnest to enter the skimpy costume of the composer. He embraced its contours: mania. The childish side. Cynicism tinged with melancholy (unless it’s the other way around). We nonetheless come away with a frustrating feeling of incompleteness. Without having understood where its director wanted to go.

Boléro , biopic of Anne Fontaine, with Raphaël Personnaz, Doria Tillier, Jeanne Balibar, Emmanuelle Devos. 2 a.m.

Also readOur review of Boléro: a very Personnaz Ravel

Vincent Lindon plays Jacques Romand, a resigned professor who has lost his vocation and lives alone in a pavilion, surrounded by rare books and memories of his deceased wife. One evening, in a convenience store, he witnesses an attack and blocks one of the young thieves. Arrested then quickly released by the police, the latter, who hardly appreciated their intervention, went to the teacher's house to trash everything. Jacques Romand is not going to call the police but will do everything to help Victor, this young 14-year-old Roma with a body full of bruises and out of school.

The duo formed by this disillusioned professor and this wild child, by a larger-than-life Vincent Lindon and the formidable Stefan Virgil Stoica, cast in a theater school in Romania, works very well and offers beautiful moments, touching in their mutual recognition . Unfortunately, this meeting full of promise between two worlds at odds stretches and purrs nicely, without taking us very far for lack of real surprises. Despite its strong subject, the new social thriller directed by Nicolas Boukhrief lacks depth to really convince us.

Like a Son, drama by Nicolas Boukhrief, with Vincent Lindon, Karole Rocher, Stefan Virgil Stoica, Sorin Mihai. 1:42.

Also read: Our review of La Salle des profs: a downside