Mr. Bachmann and His Class

Who wouldn't like to spend a year in a great teacher's classroom? Herr Bachmann is just such an educator. He wears a skull cap and a stubble beard, has an unorthodox teaching style, heavy on music.

Herr Bachmann runs a class in which pupils from Bulgaria, Turkey, Morocco, Kazakhstan and Brazil are preparing for their secondary education. Some haven't learned the German language yet.

Because of his relaxed style, and we never seem Herr Bachmann getting angry or annoyed, his high-school pupils admire him. On top of that he is witty, warm, playful, challenging and a resolute teacher when necessary. He is interested in his kids and teaches them values such as solidarity and tolerance, perhaps even more important than German and math.

Some constructive criticism. With its 3.5 hours, the film is too long, although admittedly, it takes time to get to know a class. The school-outing to a WW2 site could have skipped, IMO. OTOH, perhaps a German director feels it is obligatory to pay attention to this part of history. To me, however, it just was an unnecessary deviation. Apart from that, a warm feel-good film.