A Class to Remember (1993) [Film Review]

A Class to Remember; or, The Power of Education

     Classes are sessions that teachers and students cooperate in building. I realize it now. A fine class!

Yoji Yamada is a legendary Japanese director known for helming the famous Tora-san franchise (1969-1995), Free and Easy series (1988-2009), and Gakko (1993-2000). The last one of the three is a set of four movies focusing on education (Gakko meaning literally school). The first film in the series is A Class to Remember from 1993, the movie I have long sought for and finally found it. How Yamada evaluates Japanese schooling in his motion picture? Let’s find out in this review:
Release Info

Directed by: Yoji Yamada Starring: Toshiyuki Nishida, Keiko Takeshita, Kunie Tanaka

Language: Japanese Original Title: 学校 Runtime: 128 min

 

Synopsis

Kuroi (Toshiyuki Nishida) is a teacher at a city night school. Every evening he teaches the basics like reading and writing to his students who differ in age and, for some reason, could not receive conventional education. In a series of flashbacks, we are presented with the progression of each student: Kaji (Masato Hagiwara), Eriko (Yuri Nakae), Midori (Nae Yuki), Chang (Kaei Okina), Shigeru (Senri Oe), Kim Jun-Hes (Eiko Shinya), and Ino (Kunie Tanaka). During their final lesson, Kuroi receives tragic news which he has to share with the class.

 

The Learning Cycle

A Class to Remember immediately startles with its slow, documentary-like pace. It is neither a comedy nor a serious drama. The movie feels like a slice-of-life story, greatly focusing on the advantages of night schooling. Yet, the action of the story does not happen entirely in a classroom. The camera goes outside in order to show the everyday lives of the teacher as well as his students.

 

One would think that Japan does not have problems with education, but Yamada intimately portrays a group of people who, in one way or another, could not attend daily school. We have elderly people who were so busy with hard work that they never learnt to read or write. There are people with traumas and cognitive deficiencies, or even lazy ones. There are also those who were abused by pathological families. All of them attend a night school, which is surprisingly free of charge, in order to learn something in life.

 

Of course, the figure of the teacher is central to the story. Thankfully, Yamada does not go full GTO by turning Kuroi into an unconventional eccentric. Instead, Kuroi is a warm individual who always tries to reach out to his students. He is not able to fix their problems like Onizuka, but he gives a lending hand when a situation requires it. First and foremost, Kuroi is dedicated to teaching and tries to pass his passion for life to his students.

 

With regard to performances, Toshiyuki Nishida did a great job as Kuroi. I have known him mostly from Doctor X series, but now I want to check out his earlier works, especially collabs with Yamada. Keiko Takeshita was also convincing as another school teacher, Tajima. All of the actors who played the students did very well, but the true highlight was the veteran actor Kunie Tanaka as Ino, the elderly student. Oh, and keep your eyes open for Kiyoshi Atsumi's cameo!

 

Recommendations

The end credits state that (as of 1993) approximately 45 junior high night schools function in Japan. The movie got me so interested about the subject that I started to search for more info about the so-called yakan gakko (night schools). I  was unable to find their exact number in 2019, but, allegedly, they function pretty well today, providing education even for non-Japanese students. Summing up, A Class to Remember is a well made and quite touching film. It leaves you thinking afterwards.

Overall score: 9/10

If you would like to read about Japanese night schools, then I recommend these articles I found.