Based on a true story, a teacher, Anne Gueguen, changes the lives of her students who think they are no good at school.
Blaine: “Once in a Lifetime” is the type of movie that belongs in the same group as “Stand and Deliver”. It shows that students who are not the best at school have something about themselves that is special and that they can achieve something out of life. There are students who are the out of control type, think people are wasting their time just trying to teach them and they don’t pay attention. And then with the teachers, there’s a lot of them who give up easily because working with students who are out of control and act like wild animals is hard to handle for them. But there are some teachers out there who are stronger and can take anything that comes their way. They are also believers. Anne Gueguen is that type of teacher. Anne knows she became a teacher for a reason because she cares for students and she wants to help them.
The students mess around and argue, but Anne really knows how to handle them. She always has an answer that will give the students something to think about. There are things in life you may not have an interest in learning about, but that doesn’t mean everything in life is boring. There are things out there that can fascinate you. Anne has the students learn about the Jews that survived Nazi camps during the second World War. The students don’t know what to think about that at first, but they are listening to that inner voice saying “Do better with yourself”.
Everyone gets together for a study group, hosted by Anne and her assistant. The students do the work, but there has to be more to it. They have to have a reason for liking the certain types of things they have chosen for this assignment. Like one of the students shows Anne something he put together with cut outs of the numbers that were tattooed on the Jews. He thinks it’s cool, but he doesn’t know the meaning of those numbers. Anne lets everyone know the work they’ve been doing is a good start, but there has to be more to it, which is a challenge. The students do more research, so they can get more details. The students are becoming more open minded and this assignment is getting them hooked as they go deeper into details.
Another main subject of “Once in a Lifetime” is racism. There’s different religions living in Paris, like Muslims and Jews. What the students are learning involves racism. Innocent people, including children, had to die because they were different. One of the students, Malik, comes across a lot of things that are racist, but he doesn’t let those type of jerks get to him. On the bus, Malik sees a Muslim girl offering her seat to a woman, but that woman just ignores her. Malik smiles at the Muslim girl showing his kindness. Malik sees someone wrote graffiti on his neighbor’s mailbox because she is of the Jewish faith. Malik knows someone with a kind soul like his neighbor doesn’t deserve this, so he wipes the graffiti off before his neighbor sees it. Malik is also getting himself involved with one of his classmates, Camelia. He walks her home one day and her father looks like he doesn’t take a liking to Malik because he’s black. Of course nothing happens, I mean Camelia is not forbidden to see Malik, and the father hardly gets in the way of their relationship because the father doesn’t matter in this film.
The students get a special guest. He is a survivor of a Nazi camp. He tells them his story of what he went through during his time in the camp. He was fifteen and he lost a lot of members of his family. He also explains how the Nazis treated the Jews as if they were animals in the slaughter house. Nazis didn’t care that Jews were human beings, nor did they care that they had names. His story is heartbreaking for the students and they are starting to feel something as they learn these details. They are so sucked into the story that they feel like they are there. The students thought life was hard on them with school, but the Jews had it much worse.
This survivor was going through hell, but he was also a believer. He believed he would survive even though he was going through a really rough time. Makes you think, if he believed in himself maybe the students can believe in themselves, whether it’s surviving or getting through school. The survivor believes in them. I think the reason this film is called “Once in a Lifetime” is because you only have one chance in life to do something with it.
The students didn’t think they could go through with this assignment at first, but they are discovering something about themselves the more they work on it. They realize they have great ideas and opinions the more they get into their inner thoughts. They are also realizing they are unique if they think positive and believe in themselves. The students have learned so much and they are combining it into one giant lesson. It’s also an emotional experience for them by listening to the stories of the survivors on tape and reading what the horrible things they had experienced.
The students are becoming something else. They are going through changes, like acting mature, bonding with each other, they also have grown to respect Anne. They are devoting their time to the work and showing a passion for it. One of the students drops out of the assignment, but a new student, Melanie, played by Noemie Merlant, comes in. Melanie is in Anne’s class and started off as an outsider when this assignment was given. She thought the assignment was ridiculous and didn’t believe that a teacher would give the students a chance to do better with themselves. Melanie said she wouldn’t be involved in this assignment, but deep down she does want to do better. Melanie can pretend all she wants in not showing any interest, but Anne can read her well. It’s written all over Melanie that she does want to participate. She is given a memoir about one of the survivors by Anne’s assistant. Anne could see Melanie has a gift after seeing her draw a sketch in a church the class visited. Once again I see actress Noemie Merlant play a person with an artistic talent after seeing her in “Portrait of a Lady on Fire”. Melanie was around to listen to that survivor's powerful story and she got sucked into it just as much as the rest of her class. Melanie can’t ignore it anymore, she admits to herself that she wants to be in the study group and it helps her become a better person. Before then she was someone who would yell a lot.
The work the students have put into their studies is honored in the best way you can imagine. They get honored a prize at a award ceremony that honors people. In the beginning the students didn’t think they could accomplish anything, but Anne has proved them wrong, and this is another piece of proof that they can make it. The first piece of proof was doing the work and doing a good job at it. The students have brightened up their lives and their thanks go to their teacher, Anne, for giving them the push they needed in order to succeed. Anne has succeeded at making her students succeed. The students have put so much love and passion into their work. They acted like wild animals in the beginning, but now they have evolved into honor role students. Their lives have changed……..forever.
What Anne had with those students was like family. The ending shows Anne with a brand new group of students to work with. She is going to continue to help students, who may have trouble with school, do better and become the best at what they can be at. Anne is a great leader. Some of the students have given up on themselves and have dropped out of study group, but there are plenty of others who have made it through and Anne makes sure she does not fail them.
My rating on “Once in a Lifetime” is five out of five stars.
