Noce blanche

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.

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.

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...

This is a very deep and moving film.

I saw it over 10 years ago for the first time and was fascinated, and I still am.

The story is well constructed and follows the human rhythms, nothing is calculated or forced, but all is just terribly... real.

It's an incredible story of love, loyalty, violence, integrity, doubts, with two protagonists at the limits of their lives. All characters are played by good actors, but the young girl and the professor (Vanessa and Bruno) stand out... what a performance!

For me this is a masterpiece.

I saw this movie for the first time when I was 15 or so (1992) and ever since then I have seen it at least another 7 or 8 times. This is true, you know. School girls DO fall in love with exactly these kind of ppl. Not everyone falls for the latest boy-band-model-of-the-year type. Some goes for the sophisticated, sensitive, reliable and wise men. I got the movie from amazon as VHS, and still hope that one day it will come up as DVD title. Most recommended, for those who want to see true love in the eyes of young girls.