It All Starts Today (1999) — AI Story Visualization

Plot Analysis Summary

A school director confronts how poverty, institutional neglect, and limited compassion shape the lives of children and families.

Story Structure — 4 Plot Phases

A School Under Strain

Daniel Lefebvre tries to protect children while poverty and neglect enter the classroom. A severely weak baby forces him to respond to a crisis beyond ordinary schooling.

Key Events

• Children Sing the Nursery Rhyme — Children sing about a fragile cardboard house falling apart. Location: School
• Daniel Faces School Crisis — Daniel manages problems extending far beyond classroom teaching. Characters: Daniel Lefebvre Location: School
• A Weak Baby Arrives — A mother brings in a dangerously weak baby. Characters: Daniel Lefebvre Location: School
• Daniel Calls an Ambulance — Daniel calls an ambulance after recognizing the baby was not properly fed. Characters: Daniel Lefebvre Location: School
• Lessons in Self-Control — Daniel teaches politeness, sharing, and control of anger. Characters: Daniel Lefebvre, Laetitia Location: Classroom
• Children Attack Each Other — Bullying and attacks reveal the children's escalating distress. Characters: Daniel Lefebvre, Laetitia Location: School

The Burden Behind Behavior

Teachers confront violence, hunger, unemployment, and inadequate housing. The school’s failing infrastructure shows that the children’s problems are rooted in wider social deprivation.

Key Events

• Children Attack Each Other — Bullying and attacks reveal the children's escalating distress. Characters: Daniel Lefebvre, Laetitia Location: School
• Families Face Deprivation — Staff confront unemployment, lice, unpaid bills, and poor housing. Characters: Daniel Lefebvre, Samia Damouni Location: School
• Violence Raises an Expulsion Debate — Teachers debate expelling a violent child or addressing social causes. Characters: Daniel Lefebvre, Samia Damouni Location: Staff room
• The School Infrastructure Fails — Broken heating, filthy toilets, and overcrowding burden the school. Characters: Daniel Lefebvre, Samia Damouni Location: School
• Staff Consider a Petition — Staff consider petitioning the mayor for priority status and resources. Characters: Daniel Lefebvre, Samia Damouni Location: School
• Administrative Work Overwhelms Samia — Samia handles administrative work while facing excessive pressure. Characters: Samia Damouni, Daniel Lefebvre Location: School office

Rules Against the Hungry

Administrative demands collide with the basic needs of children whose parents cannot pay for meals. Daniel challenges officials and seeks resources while Samia remains overwhelmed by administrative work.

Key Events

• Administrative Work Overwhelms Samia — Samia handles administrative work while facing excessive pressure. Characters: Samia Damouni, Daniel Lefebvre Location: School office
• Unpaid Meals Become a Policy Crisis — Rules require refusing meals to children whose parents cannot pay. Characters: Daniel Lefebvre, Samia Damouni Location: School cafeteria
• Daniel Challenges Bureaucratic Rules — Daniel demands practical help instead of bureaucratic explanations. Characters: Daniel Lefebvre Location: School
• Electricity Is Cut Off — A family has lived without electricity during the winter for months. Characters: Daniel Lefebvre Location: Family home
• Daniel Recognizes the Hidden Crisis — Daniel realizes how serious the family's living conditions have become. Characters: Daniel Lefebvre Location: Family home

The Cost of Looking Away

The discovery of a family living without electricity leads to the mother's death and Daniel's devastating guilt. He identifies poverty and administrative indifference as forces behind the tragedy, then continues resisting systemic abandonment.

Key Events

• A Death Reveals the Cost — Daniel learns that the mother whose home lacked electricity is dead. Characters: Daniel Lefebvre Location: Family home
• Daniel Is Consumed by Guilt — Daniel feels guilty for failing to see the crisis sooner. Characters: Daniel Lefebvre Location: School
• Poverty Is Named as a Cause — Daniel argues that poverty and administrative indifference caused the tragedy. Characters: Daniel Lefebvre, Samia Damouni Location: School
• Compassion Meets Its Limits — Daniel confronts the limits of individual compassion against systemic neglect. Characters: Daniel Lefebvre Location: School
• Daniel Continues to Resist — Daniel continues resisting a system that abandons children and families. Characters: Daniel Lefebvre, Samia Damouni, Laetitia Location: School

Story Breakdown

• Fragile School World — The opening establishes childhood vulnerability and a school surrounded by deprivation.
  • Cardboard House Rhyme — Children sing about a fragile home collapsing, linking childhood with helplessness.
  • Director Under Pressure — Daniel Lefebvre manages problems that extend far beyond classroom instruction.
• Emergency in Classroom — A severely weak baby forces Daniel to act immediately against the consequences of neglect.
  • Weak Baby Arrives — A mother brings a dangerously weak and improperly fed baby to the school.
  • Ambulance Called — Daniel calls an ambulance after recognizing the medical danger.
• Children Under Strain — The children's behavior reflects anger, deprivation, and unstable social conditions.
  • Lessons in Respect — Daniel encourages politeness, sharing, and control of anger.
  • Violence and Expulsion — Teachers debate whether violent behavior warrants expulsion or social support.
• Institutional Breakdown — The school lacks the infrastructure and public resources needed to respond effectively.
  • Broken School Services — Heating, toilets, space, and medical support are inadequate.
  • Petition for Resources — Staff consider petitioning the mayor for priority status and additional help.
• Hunger Versus Rules — Administrative policy turns unpaid school meals into a direct moral conflict.
  • Meals Denied — Rules require refusing meals to children whose parents cannot pay.
  • Daniel Challenges Officials — Daniel demands practical assistance instead of bureaucratic explanations.
• Winter Household Crisis — A family's prolonged loss of electricity exposes the severe consequences of administrative indifference.
  • Power Cut Off — The family has lived without electricity during winter for months.
  • Crisis Goes Unseen — Daniel realizes too late how serious the family's situation has become.
• Death and Responsibility — The death of the mother transforms social concern into personal guilt and political anger.
  • Tragic Discovery — Daniel learns that the mother from the electricity crisis has died.
  • Poverty Named — Daniel argues that poverty and administrative indifference made the tragedy possible.
• Resistance Without Illusions — The conclusion acknowledges the limits of individual compassion while preserving Daniel's opposition to abandonment.
  • Limits of Compassion — Daniel confronts how little one person can repair within a failing system.
  • Continued School Resistance — He continues resisting the system's repeated abandonment of children and families.

Directed by

Bertrand Tavernier

Key Cast

• Maria Pitarresi — Valeria
• Philippe Torreton — Daniel Lefebvre
• Nadia Kaci — Samia Damouni
• Véronique Ataly — Madame Lienard
• Nathalie Bécue — Cathy