School

A critical and commercial hit in Italy, this portrait of a hard-pressed Roman secondary school is a witty, well-observed exposé of the foibles of institutional life, while at the same time hinting at the moral funk and the economic strictures affecting the wider national psyche. Instead of the usual Blackboard Jungle melodramatics, the tone here is affectionate and faintly absurdist, and the focus is as much on the clashing personalities of the staff - fumbling likeable history teacher Orlando has the hots for Galiena's maths mistress, but she seems taken by Bentivoglio's disciplinarian deputy head - as it is on the ever-boisterous students. A hugely enjoyable movie which barely wastes a scene.