The Kids Are All Right. The Rest of Us . . .

When my Best-of-2012 list comes out at the end of the week, there will be a noticeable tilt toward films that revolve around kids. In the past week I caught up with two of the best ensemble productions featuring children in quite a while.


* I WISH (B+) - In Japan, two brothers are living apart, because their parents are separated. One lives with the father, the other with the mother. The plot device -- dabbling in magical realism -- involves a new bullet train about to debut and the myth that, when the first trains pass each other at top speed, those witnessing the event will have their wishes come true. The boys, of course, plan to wish for their parents to reunite, and each brother recruits a few pals who have their own hopes and dreams to submit to the Railroad Fairy. The older boy, Koichi (Koki Maeda), 12, holds this all together with a stoic determination, playing off his impish brother's perpetual cheeriness. With these adolescents boldly wringing the last of the innocence from their childhood, we get a stark contrast to the aimless adults -- their knockabout mother, the stoner father who still dreams of being a rock star, a restaurateur grandfather seeking to perfect his snack-cake recipe. The message is fairly obvious: Wish all you want, kiddies; reality will catch up with you before long. The denouement is refreshingly underwhelming. Seeing how we all know that the world isn't overrun by ballerinas and firemen presiding over an age of peace and enlightenment, you shouldn't be disappointed in where this story leads us.


* MONSIEUR LAZHAR (A)

I have no idea why I put off seeing this film for so long. It is a near-perfect fable (literally, at times) about a classroom of junior high student coping with the suicide of their homeroom teacher, the aftermath of which was witnessed by a boy and a girl, themselves coping with their own love-hate relationship. I'd off-handedly characterize it as "The Class" meets "The Sweet Hereafter."

2012 was a great year for child actors -- Quvenzhane Wallis in the somewhat forgettable "Beasts of the Southern Wild"; Kacey Motet Klein in "Sister"; Thomas Doret in "Kid With a Bike"; Helene Bergsholm in "Turn Me On, Dammit" -- but this class full of kids is incredible, most notably the main protagonists, Simon and Alice, played by Emilien Neron and Sophie Nelisse, who display a depth and maturity that no one under 35 should be expected to possess.

Writer/director Philippe Felardeau has a deft touch with the interaction of the students, the helplessness of the gun-shy adults, and the awkwardness of this unknown Algerian with a sketchy past (a soulful Mohamed Fellag) who steps into the mess to guide the children back to their curriculum. The dialogue -- built on the awkwardness of a stranger in a strange land but also on the eggshell-walking done by parents, teachers and administrators -- plays with the nuances of language beautifully. The children's banter is believable and charming. They engage in clever wordplay. When Simon offers up a distasteful pun during class -- a play on the dead teacher's name -- Alice slowly turns and shoots him a searing look. It's priceless.

As with "I Wish," the adults here are a mess. The parents are often absent, the teachers are frightened of being accused of child abuse for any minor misinterpreted (or not?) touching, and the principal is burned out. At one point, one of the students tells Mr. Lazhar matter-of-factly: "Everyone thinks we're traumatized. But it's the adults who are." Ah, my dear, you have no idea. Enjoy your final days in that cozy cocoon. When you emerge, you might have it all figured out and just skip your way through adulthood. Bonne chance with that, young lady.

And merci, Monsieur Lazhar. I've finally got the last piece of the puzzle for my list of the best of 2012.