It always happens. When things get tough, local, State, and the federal government save money on the backs of the poor first. Who, besides the poor suffer, the teachers, of course? This is a magnificent story of pre-school teachers coping with abuse, neglect, incest, and all forms of child abuse while the government agencies that are supposed to help just make excuses.The school is falling apart and being broken into for food, and the school board, and the police do little or nothing to help. Families are coping with 34% unemployment and the resulting depression. Sound familiar? It is also happening all over America, not just in France.The teacher training even tells new teachers that they will be social workers more than teachers. It is difficult to understand how learning can take place with children who are hungry, cold, and abused.Philippe Torreton does an excellent job as Daniel Lefebvre in writer/director Bertrand Tavernier's film. His frustration and anger shows whether he is throwing out a child welfare worker or yelling at the Mayor for cutting lunches. All the while he has to deal with problems at home and his ailing father.

Bertrand Tavernier is a highly skilled writer and director, and here, with co-scenarist Dominique Sampiero, he comes at you head-on: if you want to find the REAL heroes in our society, don't look for cops, robbers, movie stars or sports figures. The REAL heroes could be living next door to you, or you could be one yourself. You just haven't received societal canonization yet.Given the material, It All Starts Today could easily have been a mawkish melodrama, a kind of Good Will Hunting with kindergarten kids. The marvelous thing about Tavernier's direction is that, if anything, he understates what he so sincerely wants to tell you. That's no small feat when you have an army of adorable kids flitting in and out of camera range.This is a deceptively simple story about a committed but deeply frustrated schoolteacher in northern France named Daniel Lefebvre (played by Philippe Torreton). Faced with a gutted coal industry in his home town that has left more than one-third of the citizens unemployed, Lefebvre fights hard to motivate and inspire parents to keep their children in school. The film doesn't preach, it doesn't rant or rave: it merely SHOWS you the exasperation that all but consumes everyone in the wake of economic near-disaster.Torreton is absolutely devastating and charismatic as the frantic Lefebvre. He just takes over the screen even as he becomes part of it You don't believe he's acting, which someone said is the sign of a great actor.What Tavernier is saying is extremely important in this ridiculous age of pop culture, where no-talent 'artists' grab attention and the emotions of young people. They are heroic simply because they're famous, and they're famous because they're heroic. Or something. Watch this film and you'll see teachers, social workers, parents and children who are the REAL heroes of the world.

A very mediocre French series "l'instit" contributed to giving the audience a false picture of the schoolteacher.In that poor sitcom ,actor Gerard Klein was some kind of superhero (on a motorcycle!) who acted like a pacifist Zorro or K2000.Bertrand Tavernier and his wonderful thespian ,Philippe Torreton,de la Comédie Française set the record straight.First of all,this is a true story,inspired by a schoolteacher's books.And Tavernier is an artist whose best works ("l'horloger de Saint-Paul" "la mort en direct" and his masterpiece" la vie et rien d'autre")deal with the dignity of man. And as the title says "the future begins today" as everything is possible when the man's young can still wonder,discover,and ... perhaps love the world before he discovers the darker side of it.Because ,for most of the children we meet in this movie,the darker side is at their door,inside their houses,and School is the only way for them of getting away with a somber future.There are courageous lines against the Champagne socialists -When the movie was released,there were commies in the French government-"I could have expected more from a communist mayor!" the teacher says to the notable who closes the canteen to the children whose family is no longer able to pay.There is a very realistic scene between the teacher and his inspector.Although the former 's work is admirable,the state employee slags him off because he's blind and deaf to the world outside him,all he wants to do is to climb the upper rungs of the social ladder .Never the inspector hints at the children's plight,his narrow-minded view remains abstract and completely mindless:how could a group of four year old toddlers be autonomous?A Tribute to the teachers ,who now more than ever need gratefulness and understanding,Tavernier's movie is deeply moving and deserves to be highly recommended.He equals Kenneth Loach here,not a small feat.

This film is an excellent commentary of the sheer difficulties in trying to improve a bad situation when the whole system - from the families involved to the political authorities - are effectively working against you. It shows that it is vital to persevere because to give up would be awful. Its ultimately optimistic about the strength of the human spirit but scathing about the corrupting and degrading influence of the system.The only criticisms are that the camera technique was very fluid which meant that the picture was always moving up and down, in and out of focus. This was interesting but quite taxing on the eyes. Also, it was perhaps half an hour longer than it could have been so it dragged somewhat in places. But a very good film. 4/5