ravi_ranjan_4
must watch movie but not for faint hearted/ emotional ones like me.i'm so moved by the movie that at 5.12 a.m in the morning i'm writing this. all night i've not slept. i just wanted to distract my mind from the movie so that i could sleep. that didn't happen i will have to go to class at 7 without sleeping. why these touches our heart, when i know love is not anything. somebody is sad without it , others are sad with it. love just distracts your mind for some days , then when you adjust with it and ponder what next.......... and then you realize it was not what you wanted... perhapsacting by Vanessa paradis is outstanding, she is now the wife of Johnny depp......she is looking so gorgeous
writers_reign
As a rule I have a hard time watching Vanessa Paradis but on the other hand I've only seen the stuff she did in the last decade. In this, her debut effort at the age of 17, she had yet to hone her nauseating Goldie Hawn schtick and was halfway believable as a screwed-up wild child. Director Brisseau cast 60 year old Bruno Cremer as the older teacher who has an affair with her (but was careful to cast 42 year old Ludmila Mikael as Cremer's wife) and just about stopped short of having Cremer say to Paradis 'let's get together and compare taboos'. There may well be an acceptable side to 60 making out with 17 and Brisseau might have been the guy to tap into it if he didn't have a penchant for sleaze - this, after all, is the guy who was arrested for sexually harassing an actress on a subsequent film, Chose Secrets, also steeped in unhealthy sex. If you work at it you can just about work up a sympathetic approach to the story and if all else fails there's always Mikael who could have done with more screen time. Overall this is interesting rather than entertaining.
ajji-2
It's been over a decade since I saw this film, but I do remember it rather fondly. It showed sensitivity for the characters as well as the subject matter, instead of being exploitative. At the same time, it was quite frank in dealing with the story and of course, it ends tragically. I also remember being impressed with Vanessa Paradis, both for playing a difficult role deftly, and for her physical beauty. It was only recently that I became aware of her real-life relationship (being Johnny Depp's girlfriend).I would love to see the film again, but it seems it hasn't been widely circulated on DVD, and the R2 disc is hard to find. What a pity.
LeRoyMarko
Not a bad movie about impossible love, but I would suggest that you see Eric Rohmer's films a second time before taking a look at this one. What is the fascination of older man for young Lolitas? In this one, it's Vanessa Paradis, who's playing the student who get her philosophy teacher (Cremer) all tangled up in a web of difficulties. The fascination also with the troubled girl who's despaired, all the while hiding a terrible secret: she's smart, very smart. The movie is ok but sometimes a little bit too improbable. Performances are good, not great. A better film in the same genre: À la folie, pas du tout... (with Audrey Tautou). On the bright side, the movie offers an inside of what kind of feelings teachers like François are capable of developing. Every day, there's teachers who put themselves in the same situation. Society seems to be able to understand why a young girl like Mathilde could fall in love with a much older man, but the reverse ain't true.Out of 100, I gave it 73. That's good for **½ out of ****.Seen at home, in Toronto, on May 11th, 2004.
