In ihrem Haus

For his thirteenth feature film, French New Wave director Francois Ozon has outdone all acclaim given to his 2002 remake of "8 Women" with a mischievous and dysfunctional tale, of what can be perceived as… coming-of-age.

A black comedy conflated with so much grandeur from literary greats to post-modern poioumena, you cannot help but wave the white flag and just go along in service of jest and sheer curiosity.

Adapted from a brilliant play written by Juan Mayorgo, this film is a meta-narrative centered on Claude Garcia (Ernst Umhauer) -- a sixteen year old loner who intrudes upon the home life of fellow student Rapha Jr., and writes about it. What begins as a one-off weekend assignment for literature class, escalates with great passion and frequency when Claude's teacher, Germaine (Fabrice Luchini) detects flashes of talent and decides to groom the teenager.

Here, Ozon proposes a three-fold narrative weaving through the surface of three realities -- Germaine's growing obsession with Claude's story imitates the viewers' relationship with Ozon's film (and perhaps soap opera addiction), and Claude as a self-conscious narrator of the events occurring inside Rapha's house.

When the film begins, Claude is unhappy with a lonely life and clearly needs to distract himself with wholesome family warmth. Having witnessed Rapha's close relationship with parents Rapha Sr. and Esther at the school gate, strikes a friendship with the boy when semester begins. Establishing himself as a math tutor and study mate, Claude quickly wins their affection and trust. Thrilled by this opportunity to experience life with a sense of belonging, yet predisposed to primitive urge, Claude's desire swells into furtive yearning for Esther. And naturally, things get complicated.

As Germaine's involvement with Claude's writing departs from passive reader, to that of a story-telling coach superimposing rules of dramatic structure, it occurs to the viewer that he may very well be a shaping hand in the outcome of this voyeuristic experiment.

Of course, the fabrics of fiction and reality overlap but they do not confuse -- the satirical logic unfolds in ways that are thought- provoking, humorous and downright captivating.

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There are certainly many meanings underneath the veil of comedy of this movie. Indeed, defining "Dans la maison" a comedy would be reductive, in the same way as thriller sounds out of tune. And it's really difficult to assign a precise category to it. It's a multifaceted movie, showing different levels of interpretation. From the point of view of the teacher, it's a subtle reflection of a middle aged failed man, who has to come to terms with his failure as a writer, and his incapability to inspire enthusiasm in class of bored students. From the point of view of the wives, it's a refined portrait of middle aged unsatisfied women, and their need to find any kind of escape or consolation. But above all, the movie offers a lucid and intelligent gaze on people's voyeuristic curiosity, on how much we are ready to do in order to see what happens behind closed doors and walls, and here the pair teacher-student works perfectly, and develops through the quick-paced writing of a story where the boundaries between reality and fiction become more and more faded, thus making it intriguing and engrossing. On this aspect, the movie is also a reflection on the process itself of artistic creation, which can seduce the reader or the viewer with an incredible power of attraction. A movie which certainly offers a perfect balance between suspense and entertainment, supported by a talented young and mature cast, involving the viewer till the utmost, and moving us to an unpredictable and gripping finale.

Often funny, sometimes disturbing and sensual, the movie can be enjoyed at face value, but the heart of the movie lies underneath that appealing veneer, it's about creation and the required necessity to live your life fully to feed it. The budding writer enters the lives of a family, the same way a writer should embrace life itself, with a healthy dose of curiosity and nerve, precisely what his teacher is lacking. Add to that a fascinating and intricate observation of the blurring of lines separating reality from fiction in the feverish midst of artistic creation. Deep stuff, but all wrapped up in a neat bundle, Ozon making sure to leave almost no one on the side of the road, so to speak. So in conclusion it's smart and yet playful, intellectual but never pretentious. Well, in other words, it's a very good movie about potentially boring subjects. Highly recommended in those times of idiocracy!

The story is based on the play 'The boy in the last row' and a well crafted French drama centers between teacher and student relationship.

The story begins like a serious drama, when character developments reach at a certain stage the peculiar way of story telling starts to dig deeper into the existing characters which puts us to curiosity about the next scenes. This was kinda unusual theme like 'Stranger than fiction' and 'Ruby sparks'. The story has the power to control over the audience, which sometime drags between reality and fiction as its layers and sub-plots. You can't just judge the story especially the end but you have to experience yourself by watching it till end. The twist was really a nice one, it made the movie completely. I liked the scene at the end when they both sit on a chair and looks at a small flats from outside and say their own version stories.

The movie was suspenseful but comedy, especially when the character Germain pop-out as a narrator or guidance during the story flow of a student and his affair. The actual story of the movie was a teacher finds out one of his student's caliber in writing. So he offers him guidance to improve his talent which later the student submits a series of essay papers. When the story written by his student brings complication to around them there is no other way to solve it. Before to giving up on it is reached at its highest point to blow on everything out.

As the story was loosely based on the house, the title was perfect. The unique way of story telling and the interesting characters made the movie rich and spicy. One of a best French drama of the year, in fact very clever, must appreciate the writer Juan Mayorga and the director Ozon. Definitely not to be missed suppose you are a movie fanatic.

This is a very interesting film taking both the point of view of a sixteen year old school boy and that of a middle aged teacher, with you dear viewer, playing yet another role. Ah ha, so, what we start with is a perhaps knowingly voyeuristic homework task set by the bored literacy tutor. Then we have the youth delivering precisely the kind of inflammatory story that reignites the tutor's interest. It's a dangerous game they both play - almost as if the boy were repeating the tutor's own youth with his post hoc adult knowledge. The innocents in this tale are ignored - or rather, their real stories are overlooked by both boy writer and his tutor whilst they play their silly game. The tutor's wife sees through the whole charade but then even her story is corrupted by inclusion in the boy's story-making. You, the viewer, need to pick carefully through the evidence you are presented. Do you want the boy to succeed? Do you want to encourage the teacher? Shame on you! You've gone down a garden path you should never have entered! Brilliant!