CJMC 3 (1) pp. 3-17 Intellect Limited 2012 Crossi ngs: Journal of Migration and Culture Vo lu me 3 Number 1 © 2012 Intellect Ltd Article. English language. doi: 10.1386/cjmc.3.1. 3_1 ALEX LYK I DIS Montclai r State Unive rsity Spatial allegories of democratic pluralism in Laurent Cantet's Entre /es Murs ABSTRACT Entre l es Murs/The Class (Laurent Cantet 2008) is one in. a long line of critically acclaimed French .fil111s to address the socia l and political dyna111ics of conte111porary immigrant experience. The film's focus on a 111ulticultural suburban high school has fuelled ongoing deba tes about the abiliti; of the French public education system to acco111111odate the interests of the nation's diverse population. While much of the criti cal response to Entre Jes Murs has focused on its realism, this article addresses the allegorical significance of the .film's pri111an1 narrative spaces - the classroom, faculti; rooms and the playgrou nd - in the context of conte111pornry French i111111igra - tion policies, definitions of citizenship and 111echa11is111s of political governance. The ambivalent r epresen tation of cultural particularism in Entre !es Murs is discuss ed in relation to the self-legiti111ati11g ideologies of French Republicanism, while the tension in the .fi/111 between individualism and institutional analysis is set against discourses of objectivity long associated with art cinema. KEYWORDS art cinema French politics allegory immigrant representation culturaJism multiculturalism narrative space 3