Noce blanche

Noce Blanche is a story where a philosophy teacher falls in love with a "wayward" 17-year-old student of his. Viewings of this will likely be motivated by the subject matter, however the film does offer up substantial insight into the human condition. What is very interesting about children, especially bright ones, is that they can see through the hypocrisies of the adult world through all our false pride and double standards, and love means everything to them. They are trumped by the muscularity, cynicism, experience and judgement of adults. But they see through us, Mathilde sees straight away that François, despite a wife, career, and friends, is completely alone in the world, she sees it because it is obvious and she has not been desensitised.

There are two particularly interesting philosophical ideas that come up in François' classes, that we are the unknowing accomplices of our "other self" the subconscious, prisoners of its fate, and also that people who choose to study metaphysics, choose death, as a preference over life.

The aesthetics of the movie are very subtle, it could easily be mistaken for one of those French dramas where the camera is simply pointed at the actors, but there is a palette of blue and greys here, and I ended up freezing the view a few times to admire the stills. It is far from being ostentatious or mannered however.

The story ends up feeling quite Grecian in the end, but who am I to say unrealistic, reality is almost always stranger than fiction. Works for purposes of titillation for sure, but also has great depths. Two successful watches in a row from Brisseau for me, following on from The Girl From Nowhere, more adventures to come!

I remember seeing this movie for the first time and about 15 more times over the years. When I was young it was a lot because of Vanessa's beauty and slightly because of the plot. Over the years the truth behind the story, the way the film unfolds, made me realize how emotional I get every time I see it. It's something all of us have gone through in one form or another. My heart went out to Mathilde and her feelings. Add to that the scenery and the atmosphere and you have the perfect tear bearer movie. Excellent acting and wise choice of actors make the movie very believable. You sympathize with all the characters and feel there emotions. A great movie for a rainy night.

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.

Was this a joke? Stunning young pupil falls for droopy, haggard old philosophy teacher, becomes obsessed with him, disaster ensues. Imagine "Lolita" with the predatory roles reversed, none of the humor, literacy or irony, and delivered with a sleep-inducing dullness. The "erotic" scenes are laughably soft-core. The film's attempts at a sex/death dialectic are pathetic---you'd do a lot better with Kubrick's Nobokov adaptation, Pabst's "Pandora's Box" or at least "American Beauty", Tragic Jailbait stories with intelligent subtexts.

Vanessa Paradis is transcendental. She enlivens the film, even if her character is written in a cheap, tawdry and uninteresting note. The sight of Cremer slobbering over Paradis' silky young skin gave me the shivers, almost as much as watching Harvey Fierstein making out with Matthew Broderick in "Torch Song Trilogy": anything to skip this Creepy Old Guy fantasy that doesn't show any awareness of its own ludicrous hamfisted-ness.

Double Ewwwwwwww...

now this was the vanessa paradis video i had been waiting weeks to see. i finally got my copy ordered off of ebay and i was so glad i did. in it, vanessa paradis plays a moody young teenager named mathilde who has no parents. she rarely shows up to class, and when she does, it appears as if she is just wasting her time. her philosophy teacher francois (played by bruno cremer), happens to stumble across her path and once he finds out more about her, is eager to help her learn more. he starts to come over to her house everyday going over her homework, and teaching her the art of the study.

now, eventually, mathilde starts placing little hints that she finds francois attractive. (if you didn't know, she is 17, he is 49) he tries to resist her, but he finds himself falling for mathilde as well. they soon blossom into a passionate love. they must keep their affair a secret from his wife and the school.

you can tell that mathilde was a person who was not used to anybody caring for her before, especially in that way, so she took the first chance she got. and fell in love with him. francois, on the other hand, really just got a little too involved trying to help her. i don't think he meant to fall in love with her, but it happened.

this movie shows the struggles between a student & teacher relationship. it deals with adolscents, anger, jealousy, love, and all these other elements. the cinematography is top notch. there are some beautiful scenes of vanessa paradis in them, especially one while she is sleeping and the light streams in on her fragile body.

most of you would probably go "okay that's just plain sick. he's so old! and she's so....young!"

and that's true.

but mathilde did say "old, sick, wrinkled, thin, fat, i don't care. i'll love you for any and everyway you are" she really did love him.

this was a beautiful and moving movie that actually made me cry at the end. it's a tragic story, dealing with a taboo love that just isn't allowed in today's world.

i would like this title to be realeased in america, so people can see this wonderful gem of a film. paradis and cremer both did superb jobs in their acting, as well as jean-claude brisseau in directing and writing the screenplay.

take a break from american blockbusters and see this tragic drama.

you may just like what you find....

final rating: A+