In popular culture, there are many depictions of the school system and inner-city life. Laurent Cantet's film, Entre les Murs, presents a look at the school system in France. Between the Walls is based on the memoirs of François Bégaudeau, a teacher in the French suburbs. Bégaudeau also plays the film's teacher, Mr. Marin. Between the Walls bears many similarities to the depictions of inner-city life presented in The Corner and therefore shows how similar inner-city areas are across the world. Both performances also show governments' attempts to improve the situation in city centers. Laurent Cantet attempted to make Entre les Murs as faithful to the real situation of the “suburbs” of Paris through its construction on the film. The students chosen for the film were selected as part of a theater program launched at the Françoise-Dolto college by Cantet (Rice 28). Using real students allows for realistic interactions between students and the teacher. Cantet also reproduced the school situation in the suburbs through the scenario. Cantet did not choose to script many of the student's lines; therefore, their responses to class discussions are somewhat blunt and extemporaneous (Rice 28). The school system in France is organized similarly to that of the United States. In both systems, there are elementary schools, elementary schools, middle schools, and high schools. One difference between schooling in France and the United States is that all levels of schooling in France, including college, are free provided the student attends a public school or a private school receiving monetary aid of the state. Due to schools being middle of the paper, underfunded, understaffed, or poorly managed. …there is this equal and opposite truth: schools cannot save us” (Simon and Burns 277). Schools do not save the children of The Corner from the violence of the corner; nor do they save the underprivileged immigrant children of the suburbs of Between the Walls. The similarities between these two representations of school, although they are located in two different countries and cultures, show the universality of the problems of city centers and the schools there. Works Cited Kozol, Jonathan. The shame of the nation. New York: Crown Publishers, 2005. Print. Rice, Anne-Christine. Contemporary France through its films. Newburyport, MA: Focus Publishing, 2011. Print. Simon, David and Edward Burns. The Corner: a year in the life of a downtown neighborhood. New York: Broadway Books, 1997. Print.