SummaryInspired by the French phenomenon of 'single-class' schools, this film charts the life of a small one-class village school over the course of one academic year, and takes a warm and serene look at primary education in the French heartlands. (New Yorker Films)
Directed By:Nicolas Philibert
To Be and to Have
Metascore
Universal Acclaim
87
User score
Generally Favorable
7.5
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Top Cast
Metascore
Universal Acclaim
96% Positive
25 Reviews
25 Reviews
4% Mixed
1 Review
1 Review
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
100
This movie is a portal, leading to a living museum of childhood at its most poignant.
100
Nothing momentous happens here, but Philibert has a magical sense of how to find the simple poetry lurking in the universal routine of being a kid. A lot of the film's lyricism is extracurricular.
User score
Generally Favorable
84% Positive
16 Ratings
16 Ratings
0% Mixed
0 Ratings
0 Ratings
16% Negative
3 Ratings
3 Ratings
Jun 18, 2012
10
[Simple but deeply touching, Magical sense of warmth, Graceful, Emotional absorbing] The sense of simpliness, incnocence and truthfulness astonishingly constructs one of the most unique and incredibly heart-warming films ever created. A Remarkable Accomplishment in the World of Film.
Feb 20, 2025
9
This movie, filmed in the region where I was born and spent my early childhood, beautifully depicts rural isolation and childhood. The viewer walks away from this documentary with a deep admiration for the schoolteacher, who dedicated so much time and held so much love for his students.
90
This heart-wrenching documentary about a French village schoolteacher at work offers the comedy and pathos of great drama and the visual magnificence of painting.
88
Exhibiting the same sort of patience as his sensible hero, Philibert has created an extraordinarily humane portrait of a partnership between one adult and his very fortunate charges.
80
An early shot of two turtles crawling through the classroom establishes the film's deliberate pace, and To Be And To Have benefits from the care.
80
Full of observed life, the movie is also a bit of a vacuum, and once we register our admiration for Lopez, we can hardly help contemplating the cold equations of the students' futures, their uneducated families, and the rapturously desolate farmland around them.
60
Simple but deeply touching documentary.
May 4, 2016
9
To Be and to Have proves that even the child used in the film can bring perfect performances and that brings the ultimate plan of "To Be and to Have" in exactly 104 minutes.
Oct 26, 2014
9
This movie is beautiful in so many ways - the main character's unaffected and honest way of communicating with the kids, the charming setting, the melancholic feel of knowing that this is the final year of so so many for the teacher/ protagonist. If you need something to watch that will make you feel warm and fuzzy (and perhaps shed a tear) look no further - a beautifully executed film about a wonderful man that will fill you with hope, no matter how cynical you may feel.
Production Company:
- Maïa Films
- Arte France Cinéma
- Les Films d'Ici
- Centre National de Documentation Pédagogique
- Canal+
- Centre national du cinéma et de l'image animée (CNC)
- Gimages 4
- Ministère de l'Education National du Conseil Régional d'Auvergne
Release Date:Sep 19, 2003
Duration:1 h 44 m
Awards
César Awards, France
• 1 Win & 3 Nominations
Prix Louis Delluc
• 1 Win & 1 Nomination
Étoiles d'Or, France
• 1 Win & 1 Nomination
