Audio interview: Laurent Cantet, director of The Class (Entre les murs)

by John P. Meyer

I had an opportunity to converse with French film director Laurent Cantet during his brief stopover in Dallas before the holidays. His latest film - The Class (Entre les murs) - is up for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar at this year's awards ceremonies in Hollywood on Sunday night, Feb. 22. (It's already won the Golden Palm at Cannes.)

On Feb. 20, the movie will open a limited run here in Dallas, so you'll have a chance to see it before the Academy Awards if you want to see how it stacks up against the other contenders in that category: The Baader Meinhof Complex (Germany), Departures (Japan), Revanche (Austria) and Waltz with Bashir (Israel).

Just before we began recording, Laurent told me that this was his first visit to North Texas, and that the confines of the hotel would have to be the extent of his initial regional experience, due to the dictates of his hectic promotional schedule.

Of course, if one is limited to the confines of a hotel, The Mansion is probably one of the better alternatives. So don't go feeling too sorry for Monsieur Cantet.

Our review of the film will post on Feb. 20.