The most remarkable thing about Georges Lopez, the French provincial teacher who is the center of Être et avoir (To Be and to Have) is the intense focus he brings to his work. In a crowded lobby, he's passing the time by practicing counting with JoJo (not the sharpest crayon in the box); JoJo looks up and says, "Jessie's crying," and Lopez says, "Is she bleeding? No? Fine. So what comes after twenty?"

The documentary work is not path-breaking. This isn't the intimacy of Errol Morris or the lushness of Winged Migration. Some of the shots of the countryside, though pretty, are static. The children are sometimes embarrassingly aware of the camera's presence. (Though it's interesting to see that each one reacts differently to it.) And a section in which sullen farmhand Julien gets help with this arithmetic homework from his family goes on too long. But while the camera is on the sparkling Lopez, the film comes alive.

posted: 10:27:35 PM  

The American Friends Service Committee teams with Equal Exchange to promote fair trade coffee and cocoa.

posted: 8:56:25 AM