Hollywood filmmakers have a knack for tricking audiences to believe that a racially mixed teen drama shows the hardships that come from whatever neighborhood in which they live. Whether or not they paint an accurate picture of inner-city schools is up to the viewer to decide. However, the teens tend to be romanticized — in the sense that everything will turn out OK in the end.

That isn’t necessarily the case in “The Class” — or “Entre les murs” — a French drama that shows how a teacher deals with his class comprised of tough teenagers from a rough Parisian neighborhood. Nominated for best foreign language film this year, “The Class” isn’t the type of film that will get a lot of exposure, which is unfortunate because it’s a really good movie.

It’s filmed in a documentary-drama style, meaning that it doesn’t have one-on-one camera interviews but looks as if it could be a documentary. Teacher and novelist François Bégaudeau wrote the book and screenplay for “The Class” and also plays a version of himself as François Marin. Because he is essentially playing himself, Bégaudeau is able to effectively communicate with the audience his inner battle of trying to connect with his students.

As a French language teacher, his attempts fall on deaf ears because, as the students tell him, few people speak French properly. This is relatable for American students in English classes with teachers explaining the correct way in which to write and speak. In the hallways, however, students are quick to revert to the current way of speaking.

The evolution of the meaning of words also plays a vital role in “The Class.” At one point François calls two of his students, who are also class representatives, “skanks.” In his mind, this term meant they were being rude and inappropriate. To the rest of the class it meant they were prostitutes. This generational gap between word meanings causes a backlash effect that could cost François his job — and is a crucial part of the film.

While watching the end credits, I noticed that the majority of the actors in the class played characters with their same names. It makes me wonder if they were plucked off the streets to be in the movie or if they were actual students from François’s class. If the latter is the case, it makes “The Class” all the more interesting, because then they too played versions of themselves.

“The Class” begins as the school year does. The students in François’s class ask inane questions about the French language, how conjugation works and seem to have little or no interest in the proper way of speaking. They waste time instead of settling down and getting to work. The rest of the school staff barely seems to notice when, during a staff meeting, they skim over those types of problems and focus on “real” problems, such as the coffee machine.

But, François is determined to get to know each of the students better and asks them to write their own self-portraits. Through this exercise he can get into their heads and see life the way they do in order to help them learn.

As the year goes on, one student, Souleymane (Franck Keita), is constantly causing trouble. After an incident where he hits fellow student Khoumba (Rachel Regulier) with his backpack, the school is forced to discuss the matter and decide whether he should stay at the school or be expelled indefinitely.

I found “The Class” to be thought-provoking and interesting. At times, François seems to become caught up in telling his own side of the story without getting much input from the students. To be a truly balanced piece of docu-drama filmmaking, the film should have told the students’ story a bit better. Nevertheless, it’s still interesting and shows probably the most accurate picture of life in an inner-city high school I’ve seen in a long time.

Missy Thompson: missy@tooeletranscript.com