griggs's - School Daze September 2025: 30 Days of Detention Ranked List
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Goodbye, Children (1987)Au Revoir Les Enfants
With a career spanning over thirty years, Louis Malle was one of the giants of French cinema. After he burst onto the scene as one of the pioneers of the French New Wave with Lift To The Scaffold, Malle quickly achieved a reputation as a great director who was unafraid to embrace a wide array of subjects - many famously controversial. Working both in Hollywood and his native France, Malle imprinted his films with subtlety, intelligence and a sharp eye for the mores of human behaviour that set him apart from his contemporaries. This collection brings together classics from Malle's later career. Au Revoir Les Enfants, earning Malle a BAFTA for Best Director, and Lucien Lacombe are two very different tales about troubled youth set during the Second World War. Milou en Mai is a chamber comedy set against the backdrop of the 1968 Parisian uprisings and Le Souffle Au Coeur a taboo-breaking coming-of-age satire. Together with the dreamlike Black Moon, these films are proof that age did not dim Malle's humanism or commitment to experimentation. - Director:
- Louis Malle
- Cast:
- Gaspard Manesse, Raphael Fejtö, Francine Racette
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Class (2008)Entre les murs
The greatest lessons are learnt when life enters the classroom. The tense environment of a tough inner-city school where cultures and attitudes often clash is revealed in this award-winning drama based on François Bégaudeau's best-selling novel 'Between the Walls'. Bégaudeau himself stars as an idealistic teacher of a class of unruly 15 year-olds, whose spiky independence present a constant challenge to his sometimes unconventional teaching methods. Featuring an outstanding non-professional cast of real teachers and students, Laurent Cantet's gripping and sharply observed film offers a microcosm of contemporary society and explores the issues and challenges of education today. - Director:
- Laurent Cantet
- Cast:
- François Bégaudeau, Agame Malembo-Emene, Angélica Sancio
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We Are the Best! (2013)Vi är bäst!
Lukas Moodysson returns with this raucous coming-of-age comedy set in 1982, Stockholm. Klara and Bobo are united as misfits by their love of music, ignoring their own lack or talent and the people who tell them punk is dead, the pair form their own band with shy classmate Hedvig. Between fighting over boys and provoking their metal-head nemeses, the three begin preparing for their debut live gig. - Director:
- Lukas Moodysson
- Cast:
- Serina Björnbom, Mira Barkhammar, Mira Grosin
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The Spirit of the Beehive (1973)El Espiritu De La Colmena
Made under the Franco regime, Victor Erice's astonishing 1973 feature debut is quite simply one of the most remarkable, influential and purely poignant films to emerge from the 1970's. A bona-fide classic of European cinema, the film brought Erice instant and widespread acclaim. An audacious critique of the disastrous legacy of the Spanish Civil War, 'The Spirit of the Beehive' is set in a rural 1940's Spanish village haunted by betrayal and regret. Following a travelling cinema's screening of James Whale's Frankenstein, seven year-old Ana (the mesmerising Ana Torrent, later to grow into an international star of some standing) becomes fascinated with Boris Karloff's monster. Obsessed with meeting the initially gentle creation, she transfers her entrancement to tending a wounded army deserter. Atmospherically rendered by legendary Director of Photography Luis Cuadrado, it's impeccably performed by both Torrent and veteran actor Fernando Fernan Gomez in the role of her emotionally scarred, bee-keeping father. Existing in a highly evocative dreamlike state, it's a powerfully symbolic, richly allegorical tale that is as unique as it is beautiful. - Director:
- Víctor Erice
- Cast:
- Fernando Fernán Gómez, Teresa Gimpera, Ana Torrent
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Zero for Conduct (1933)Zéro de conduite: Jeunes diables au collège / Zero de Conduite
Bruel (Constantin Goldstein-Kehler), Caussat (Louis Lefebvre) and Colin (Gilbert Pruchon) are three students at a boarding school. There is a continual battle between the school's authority figures and students. The teachers and monitors are always giving the three in particular "zero for conduct" and Sunday detention for their behavior. Conversely, most of the students believe the headmaster, teachers and monitors are a combination of authoritarian, inept, and/or corrupt. The one exception among the teachers is Huguet, newly arrived to the school, he who has a penchant for imitating Charles Chaplin as the Little Tramp, and to do handstands whenever the mood suits him, which includes in class. The boys are always doing whatever it takes to amuse themselves, which if it causes the teachers grief, so much the better. The three are the masterminds of a plot to overtake the school's Commemoration Day celebrations. The one student not involved is Tabard, who is seen as a sissy among the student body. Bruel believes Tabard (Gérard de Bédarieux) should be involved. - Director:
- Jean Vigo
- Cast:
- Jean Dasté, Robert le Flon, Louis Lefebvre
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Randy (Nicholas Cage in his first major role) and Julie (Deborah Foreman) make an unlikely couple, he's a Hollywood punk, she's a preppy rich girl from the San Fernando Valley. Although all her friends think Randy is totally "grody", Julie's in love and has to choose between her vapid "valley girl" lifestyle and her new boyfriend. - Director:
- Martha Coolidge
- Cast:
- Nicolas Cage, Deborah Foreman, Elizabeth Daily
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Public schoolmaster Andrew Crocker-Harris (Michael Redgrave) has become a bitter, disillusioned man. Stuck in a loveless marriage with a wife Millie (Jean Kent) who openly cheats on him, the enthusiasm he once showed for his career and his pupils has long since vanished and The Crock' has become a figure of disdain among the students whose life he has made a misery. With ill-health forcing him to resign his long-standing post, a simple act of kindness from one boy has a profound impact on the seemingly heartless master. - Director:
- Anthony Asquith
- Cast:
- Michael Redgrave, Jean Kent, Nigel Patrick
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Celia (1989)Celia: Child of Terror
Set in mid-1950's Australia, with the fear of Communism in the air and the country's farmlands overrun by a plague of rabbits, the film depicts a long, hot summer seen through the eyes and over-active imagination of nine year old Celia (Rebecca Smart). Shaken by the death of her beloved grandmother, Celia finds herself adrift between the cruel games and rituals of childhood and the incomprehensible world of grown-ups. With monstrous creatures stalking her dreams by night, those imagined terrors blur by day with the banal brutality of the adult world leading to tragic and shocking consequences. - Director:
- Ann Turner
- Cast:
- Rebecca Smart, Don Kinsey, Dan Webb
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Half Nelson (2006)La otra cara de Nelson
Dan Dunne (Ryan Gosling) is an inner city high school teacher. Dynamic and inspirational in the classroom, he spends his time outside of school on the edge of consciousness. His personal disappointments and disillusionment have led to a serious drug habit. Dan juggles his hangovers and his homework, keeping his lives separated, until one of his students, Drey (Shareeka Epps), catches him getting high after school. From this awkward begging, Dan and Drey stumble into an expected friendship. They are both at an important intersection. Depending on which way they turn, their lives are going to change. - Director:
- Ryan Fleck
- Cast:
- Ryan Gosling, Anthony Mackie, Shareeka Epps
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At prestigious Winchester University, biracial student Samantha White (Tessa Thompson) begins her radio show by stating, "Dear White People, the amount of black friends required, not to seem racist, has just been raised to two. Sorry, your weed man Tyrone doesn't count". With her sharp tongue and witty radio show, it's not long before Sam causes a stir among the administration and student body alike. - Director:
- Justin Simien
- Cast:
- Tyler James Williams, Tessa Thompson, Kyle Gallner
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This incredible film takes a look at British boarding school and three unruly seniors who fail to conform. If.... is an amazing blend of fact and fantasy which features a young Malcolm McDowell in his first film. The students at College House are kept in line by tradition, strict discipline and prefects. Director Lindsay Anderson is careful to document the repressive conditions and the painfulness of rebellion as he builds to his surreal and violent ending when the students have their day. - Director:
- Lindsay Anderson
- Cast:
- Malcolm McDowell, David Wood, Richard Warwick
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By day, Mark Hunter (Christian Slater) is a painfully shy new kid in a small Arizona town. But by night, he's Hard Harry, the cynical, uncensored DJ of a pirate radio station. Idolided by his high school classmates (who are unaware of his real identity), Harry becomes a hero with his fiercely funny monologues on sex, love and rock and roll. But when he exposes the corrupt school principal, she calls in the FCC to shut Harry down. An outrageous rebel with a cause, Slater gives a brilliant performance as the reluctant hero who inspires his classmates to find their own voices of rebellion and individuality. - Director:
- Allan Moyle
- Cast:
- Christian Slater, Eddie Frierson, Samantha Mathis
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Playground (2021)Un Monde
Nora (Maya Vanderbeque), an anxious 7-year-old, must return to school despite her distress and longing to stay with her dad. Despite Nora's age, she soon becomes responsible for her older brother, Abel (Günter Duret), who is being tormented by the other kids. This puts Nora in a quandary - should she tell the adults or remain silent out of solidarity with her brother? Once Nora discovers Abel soaking wet, she feels compelled to take action, but just makes things worse. The authorities at school generally turn a blind eye, and her father remains powerless, kept at a distance from the confines of the school. An eventual confrontation between Nora and Abel leads to a startling climax. - Director:
- Laura Wandel
- Cast:
- Maya Vanderbeque, Jean-François Ravagnan, Günter Duret
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Elephant (2003)Elefante
It's a beautiful fall day, and golden leaves skitter ahead of the wind across green lawns. Walking through the park on his way to class, Eli persuades a punk-rock couple to pose for some photographs. Nate finishes football practice and goes to meet his girlfriend Carrie for lunch. John leaves his dad's car keys in the school office for his brother to pick up. In the cafeteria, Brittany, Jordan and Nicole gossip and complain about their mothers' snooping. Michelle dashes to the library, while Eli snaps some photos of John in the hallway. John walks out onto the lawn, crossing paths with Alex and Eric. It's an ordinary high school day. But all that is about to change. Inspired by the tragic events of the Columbine High School shootings. - Director:
- Gus Van Sant
- Cast:
- William S. Burroughs, Elias McConnell, Alex Frost
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School Daze (1988)Okul Yılları
Innovative filmmaker Spike Lee brings to the screen a music-filled, offbeat contemporary comedy that takes an unforgettable look at black college life. Amidst gala coronations, football, fraternities, parades and parties, the stars of the film - Laurence Fishburne, an intense student who encourages his buddies ("DaFellas") to fight for his beliefs; Giancarlo Esposito (Julian Eaves), out to strengthen the Greek system with his Gamma Phi Gamma fraternity brothers; Spike Lee, driven to become a "Gamma man"; and Tisha Campbell (Jane Toussaint), leader of the sorority sister "Gamma Rays" - find themselves caught up in romance and relationships/rituals and rivalries during one outrageous homecoming weekend. With dynamic music, including EU's hit "Da Butt", and dance numbers choreographed by Otis Sallid (Fame), Lee successfully challenges viewpoints about self-identity and self-esteem in this original, contemporary musical comedy. - Director:
- Spike Lee
- Cast:
- Laurence Fishburne, Giancarlo Esposito, Tisha Campbell-Martin
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