To Be and to Have

The beauty of To Be And To Have is that Lopez's loss isn't the audience's. This movie is a portal, leading to a living museum of childhood.

The most unvarnished cinematic portrait of childhood I've ever seen.

It demonstrates without overreaching what an actual teacher can do to shape lives.

This doc shares the instinctive empathy its chief subject has for his pupils and, accordingly, shoots them quite simply, trusting that the high drama of their little lives is enough to sustain the film. And it is.