Les Beaux Parleurs

At one of Paris's top lycees, a group of students and their French teacher are organizing an eloquence competition. The subject, "O rage, o despair, o elite, my enemy!" parodies a line from Corneille to question the idea of elitism - a rank that defines these students despite themselves. Young people discovering the power of rhetoric and the techniques of verbal persuasion articulate their vision of the world and question their intellectual training. They are at a pivotal moment in their education, nearing the end of a cycle. The ideas and journeys of these enlightened youth bespeak the adults they are becoming.