Philippe Torreton plays Daniel Lefebvre, a pre-school teacher in an economically depressed region of Northern France who every day faces the difficulty of large classes, kids who don't show up for school and unemployed, poor parents who can't afford the small sum to keep their child in school. The first big drama -- that tells us all is not well -- comes when a parent, pushing a baby carriage, arrives at the school drunk and collapses at her child's feet.

After she runs away from embarrassment, Daniel is left with the two kids. Looking for help, he calls the local social workers clinic but they refuse to help and hang up on him. Daniel, who ultimately takes the situation into his own hand, becomes extremely angry until he is confronted by a social worker (Nadia Kaci) who makes him realize that in that particular community there is a disproportionate ratio of only one social worker for 200 students.

It All Starts Today is a film about teachers who have to expand their jobs to include being community leaders, counselors and baby sitters. The film lets us know that life is difficult for teachers, something we may already know, but it shows that with perseverance and determination there can be solutions to the seemingly impossible dilemmas facing public schools.

Philippe Torreton – who is one of the few professional actors in the cast -- gives a powerfully mesmerizing performance. Besides having a great presence, part of the beauty of his performance is the amount of energy that he infuses into each scene. Thanks to the strength of the script he isn't a one-dimensional character.

Daniel runs the school with professionalism, handles the kids with tact and skill yet ironically, at home, he has a bad relationship with his son-in-law. The difficulty comes from trying to balance the life of the school, the challengers of the community with that of his own personal life: It's easy to see how tough it is for teachers who face such tests.

What's most remarkable about this film is the way Tavernier restrains from using manipulative, tear inducing drama or theatrics even though every step of the way the film begs to become a tearjerker. Tavernier knows that by retaining a distance the film is all the more powerful since we are made to relate to real life and real characters; not fake melodrama.

Sometimes there is an abundance of dramatic circumstances: Daniel's father becomes sick, tragedy strikes one of the families in the neighborhood and the kids (like most kids) are heartbreakingly helpless and cute. But Tavernier keeps an admirably reserved distance.

Similar to many of Tavernier's films the overall feel both cinematically and aesthetically is realistic. He utilizes many hand-held camera's giving the film a cinema-verité feel, everything seems naturally lit and the acting feels closer to real life than something staged.

Like the best political dramas It All Starts Today refuses to tie up the various subplots and make for a cop out simplistic ending. Best of all perhaps, it has had such an impact on the particular community it portrays that the school, used in the film, has been renamed in honor of the director. And it's been reported, in various French newspapers, that today the teachers in the school are finding new and creative ways to deal with the problems that still beleaguer the school and the community.

The DVD was released last fall by Facets video and received few reviews. I'm only sorry I didn't review it when it came out. But now that it is available for all to see it should not be missed especially if you care about films with an articulate, important (but not heavy-handed) social message.

Video:
The video is presented in a non-anamorphic aspect ration 1:85 to 1 looks good if not unremarkable. Facets isn't known for amazing transfers but fortunately the film is relatively new so it looks good. I detected some compression artefact but since the film uses a lot of moving shots and hand held camera (as opposed to fixed still shots) it's hardly noticable.

Audio:
The audio seems to be in stereo and has a decently full sound. The score features a broad range from classical to rock and has a lot of kids playing, laughing etc.

Extras:
There is a very good audio commentary track by Bertrand Tavernier. He speaks with a strong French accent but it's not too hard to understand him. Plus, he has such enthusiasm for the film and plenty of good stories about the making of it that the commentary is a pleasure to listen to. Also included are brief bios on the actors, a trailer and a photo gallery.

Overall:
It All Starts Today is a film that slipped by everybody when it came out but it is one of the finest socially conscious films of the past five years. The DVD looks and sounds good and has a fine commentary track by the director. Highly recommended.