The film “Louise Violet”, directed by Éric Besnard, is released in cinemas this Wednesday, with Alexandra Lamy in the title role.
She plays one of the first teachers sent to the countryside at the time of the establishment of compulsory primary education at the end of the 19th century.
Because the “black hussars of the Republic” also included women.
A role that requires a little application. To play a teacher from the end of the 19th century, Alexandra Lamy took calligraphy lessons. “The A’s shouldn’t be too big, the D’s shouldn’t be too round. In fact, they’re very small details that are a bit annoying”says the actress, interviewed in the report at the top of this article on the occasion of the film’s release “Louise Violet”November 6 at the cinema. In this feature film directed by Éric Besnard, Alexandra Lamy teaches in a converted stable, far from current standards.
Children worked in the fields
Alexandra Lamy, actress
“Louise Violet” recounts the difficult beginnings of public school. In 1882, Jules Ferry made primary education compulsory. Teachers are sent to the countryside. The writer Charles Péguy nicknamed them “the black hussars of the Republic”. These soldiers of knowledge are not welcomed with open arms. “The children worked in the fields. So, no one wanted to send their children to school”explains Alexandra Lamy.
“Louise Violet” tells of an era that profoundly changed society. “I find it funny to see another era, to see how people lived at that time. We all suffered through school. Suffered or benefited, it depends on the people”comments in turn the actor Grégory Gadebois, who plays Pierre Lecomte in the film, the mayor of the village, a figure of hostility to education.
