The Under-Gifted

The Under-Gifted (Les Sous-doués) is a 1980 French teen comedy written and directed by Claude Zidi. The film follows the mischievous pupils of a private cram school who pull endless pranks while trying to pass their baccalauréat exams without doing any real work. Frustrated by their behaviour, the school's headmistress adopts harsher, more repressive methods to force her students through the exams at any cost, and the pupils retaliate by playing tricks on their teachers. One prank too many sets off a chain of mishaps that ends with the school being blown up. Hauled before the courts, the students discover that the only way to avoid prison is to actually earn their diplomas, even if that means cheating. Starring Michel Galabru, Maria Pacôme and a young Daniel Auteuil, the film was a major box-office success in France and spawned a sequel.