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!

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... perhaps

acting by Vanessa paradis is outstanding, she is now the wife of Johnny depp......

she is looking so gorgeous

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.

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.

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+