L'étudiante

"The Student" is a straightforward romance if there's ever one and a proof that the saying "aim small, miss small" can also apply to the movies.

The film directed by Claude Pinoteau -who had made Sophie Marceau's breakthrough coming-of-age hit "La Boum" ("The Party") 8 years earlier- covers all the required tropes of the hip chick flick but embedded in that so undefinable 80s spirit that aged quite well.

So what do we have? Boy meets girl, girl notices boy, smile-inducing awkwardness during the first exchanges, feelings that don't take too long to get mutual, first date, the night that changes it all, meeting friends and families, then out of sight but not out of mind, jealousy, arguments, misunderstanding, professional mishmash and if there's no standout scene, there's still the ending, and well, that's some last ten minutes that I will remember.

Indeed, you may say "The Student" (referring to Valentine, played by Marceau) might not be a masterpiece of originality, but I challenge you to find another movie that uses an aggregation oral examen as a canvas for a heartfelt love declaration,. Maybe it's because I spent the previous year preparing for two similar career-defining exams, including that one (and failed at both), and so I coud relate to Valentine's struggles to keep her studies on track, to her friend's panic attack and I realized that I was foolish to believe I could succeed in one year what takes year for others.

And that's the trick, I related to the girl and to the boy, Edward, played by Vincent Lindon in his boyish years. I'm not 5% as attractive as he is, but there's something about his composure, his eyes, his smile, that gets him so close to us and so his struggles to reach Valentine, his obsession to get to her, his propensity to swallow his pride, anyway his neediness hit home. The craziest thing is that the stakes are higher for Valentine, she's the one who might sacrifice her professional life for a man she loves. Winning her love is not the cause, the cause is how willing you are to sacrifice a career to keep that love.

Movies like "The Student" seem apt to transcend their banality because they succeeded at handling the two essential things: the casting and the script. With her girlish rosy cheeks, Sophie Marceau is as beautiful as ever without looking like your sensual pin-up and the camera doesn't fall into trap so common in the 80s by over-sexualizing her character, like her previous husband and director Andrzej Zulawski. And on her side there's Edouard a musician preparing a score for a famous film and struggling to find the inspiration, an ordeal that echoes his own problems of communication with Valentine. Making that an obstacle would have been a cliché, but the two are in love and basically the film is about them trying to find the right pace. Both belong to different universes: intellectual upper class and Bohemian lifestyle. But the script never suggest a sort of milieu-driven antagonism, trying to keep a fair balance between the romance novel sappiness and a certain realism.

Setting half the story in the world of show business, Pinoteau emphasize the characters' ordinariness by making them coexist with real life figures like director Elie Chouraki, actress Marie-Christine Barrault and there's even a nod to Vladimir Cosma, the film composer who had an instinct for folksy scores, playful tunes, little schmaltzy ones and what could be typical "slow" hits (romantic songs allowing teenagers to stand close to each other during the famous "boums"). Ultimately the score composed by Edouard is the score of the film and Cosma who signed "La Boum"'s "Dreams are my Reality" strike it again with another 'matchmaker' "You Call it Love".

(even as a 6-year old at that time, I remember going to such parties organized by my cousins and I was looking at teens holding each other tight during these slow moments)

And what's left is the genuine spontaneity of Edouard and the fairy-tale girly quality of Valentine and their desperation to reach other despite conflicting schedules and meeting their friends and families, whatever happen to spice up the relationship isn't original but it leads to a fantastic declaration by Valentine, using her own test subject and talking about a book I happen to have read. The film might have the apparatus of a no-brain romance but I suspect the climax had taken a few sleepless nights to get on the paper. And a nice ending when we don't need to see the outcome but just to realize that sometimes love is that thing that makes us committ silly things.

I don't think the film's conclusion is that love is beyond having a professional dream, it's precisely because Valentine did the exam after all that the film aged well. Any other ending would have been manipulation. Valentine was capable to do crazy things in the name of love, except negating herself. And her dream to be a teacher was part of herself. The title says it all, she's "The student".

After her withdrawal from "La septième cible", Sophie Marceau and Claude Pinoteau had a strained relationship. The director who had discovered the now ambitious actress felt betrayed by her decision to leave his movie, and didn't talk to her for four years. Still, every bad thing has some good consequences, and Sophie Marceau's participation in more complex films during her period of misunderstanding with Pinoteau allowed her to play even more convincingly when they reconciled in "L'étudiante". It was "La Boum" for the now grown-up original audience. "La Boum" in university.

Like Vic before her, Marceau's new heroine, Valentine, a student, is one of the most relatable kind. Opinionated and smart, she charms not only with her presence, but also with her words. It is though the former that she makes a young jazzman, Ned (Vincent Lindon) fall for her. Believing it to be just a one-night adventure, she goes out with him. But she can't get him out of her head on the days that pass. Is it love? For her, surely, but she can't sacrifice five years of studying for a relationship. Balancing her love life with her studies will prove to be the theme of this charming movie.

Despite having called the protagonist relatable, one can recognise that her personality has some exaggerated elements. She is, I think, too intellectual to be believable, and her arguments over sociological or political matters have no substance or purpose in a romantic comedy. It's as if she's trapped in the wrong film. For all that, though, her relatability stems from the fact that she has to balance two different aspects of her life, both prevalent in the university years. Not many people have had - or would have - relationships with touring musicians, but many would have partners for whom the importance of university would be incomprehensible. A classic workaholic, Valentine can't let Ned make her effort go to waste. She needs to succeed, and love doesn't let her do that.

Speaking of Ned, he also has his fair share of contradictory elements. While he wants to become a famous musician, he is too careless and lets valuable opportunities to unused. Too submissive to impose his presence, he unsuccessfully tries to record a film score, only to learn that his place has been taken by someone else, and does nothing. The only person understanding him is Valentine, and it is the meeting of these antithetic characters that gives the film its charm.

For this reason, the film is clearly commercial. Only a commercial film could survive with such a contradictory cast. What saves it is the cast's interaction, full of emotion, and the aforementioned plot, with its fair degree of relatability. Its resembling of "La Boum", with its relentless optimism, and its faith in true love, that prevails even in situations when it seems impossible. It is, surely, cheap, a cash-grabber, aimed to an audience that still carried their love of "La Boum" with them. But it is a gentle one. Even if it was made for money, it makes up for it using the same formula that made "La Boum " successful. One combining innocence and relevant maturity, with a soundtrack that sticks to the ear for days to come.

It is, as mentioned above, "La Boum" for university students. Nothing more and nothing less. One can't, and mustn't expect a lot from such films. They exist for other reasons. To make us dream, and feel joy. To make us travel back in a time when the University of Paris was still called the Sorbonne, and putting a Walkman in someone's ears was an indication of love.

For all its cheapness, it is as romantic and nostalgic as can get. And for that, it is invaluable.

Thats how awful this trash is. Full diclosure , have never drank cola, cause its disgusting. This garbge is like consuming 3l of corn syrop. Not 1 good scene.

This movie has many things going for it. Boy meets girl. Good pacing. Good acting.

Along the way plot elements seem to be happenings that are only found in movie scripts -- small little things such as calling your love but assuming she is not home only at the second ring -- NOT real life.

Such things are not a bother when drama takes over and wins the day. Sadly, the big dramatic climax here -- clearly planned to be over-the-top -- falls a little short.

There needed to be just a little better connection between boy and girl. The director should have gave the viewer greater familiarity with the environment that is the stage for the films final scenes. In this area, the LONG VACATION demonstrates establishing these two crucial story elements flawlessly.

One other note, Sophie Marceau is a female goddess and makes L' Étudiante very much worth watching.

To speak frankly - This is not just a french movie.

And honestly, it does have it's flaws, like every movie.

Good news is: They do not really matter.

Valentine is a young student in Paris, who hasn't got time for anything, not even for sleeping. A romance that lasts longer than a night is out of the question. Then she meets Ned, who doesn't even take the time to finish his sentences. From here it takes a rather usual turn: They fall in love until they start getting to know each other better and they reach the turning point, to settle for true love or to separate.

Everyone who gets to see this classic movie, that is in love or ever has been, shall jump up at the end and scream: 'Yes! Yes! That's exactly how it is!' With tears in one's eyes, because love is just like this and that's what L'étudiante has captured in all of its beauty.

This movie begins with love and it ends with it, furiously. Director Claude Pinoteau takes the viewer on a trip, that begins with the first amazement of a new acquaintance, this feeling that takes your breath away and ends in a monologue which is, in my honourable opinion, one of the best ever.