Notre héros défiguré

This is a Korean film about a boy from Seoul who transfers to a school in a small town. He discovers that his fifth-grade class is dominated by a tyrannous classroom Monitor named Um, and attempts to liberate his fellow students. Unfortunately, he discovers his students are not only oppressed by the Monitor, but they are willing collaborators, and the teachers are willing to turn a blind eye. The film is set against the background of Korean politics, and indicates that this is the method by which dictatorship is tolerated by the people. However, the film is powerful enough without that extra level, and could as easily be set in a Western culture as in an Asian.