The School Teacher

The School Teacher (Le Maître d'école, 1981) is a French comedy you can watch online on iFILM. Director Claude Berri built the film around Coluche, the stand-up comedian and actor who was, at the time, one of the most popular performers in France.

Frédéric Barbier loses his shop job after standing up for a kid accused of shoplifting. Rather than find another retail position, he talks his way into a teaching post. He has no training, no plan, and a classroom full of children who figure that out within the first few minutes. Josiane Balasko co-stars as a colleague who watches the whole thing unfold with varying degrees of exasperation.

Coluche doesn't play the role for easy sentiment — Frédéric never becomes the inspiring mentor type. He stays bumbling, well-meaning and slightly out of his depth throughout, which is exactly what makes the film work. Stream The School Teacher (1981) online on iFILM.