Escola da Carne

Isabelle Ann Huppert is a gorgeous, mature woman. She dominates this film, and even though a strong cast supports her, she still dominates. Her motive for sticking with this jerk remains cloudy, unless he is the world's greatest lover. I was mesmerised by Huppert, however, and I will look for more films with her in them, and there are quite a lot of them.

"School of Flesh" tells of the ebb and flow of a sex/love relationship between a well-to-do middle aged woman and a handsome young bisexual male hustler. In typical French fashion the pair of star-crossed protags are locked in constant maneuvering in order to better define the limits of their relationship and their influence over it. Though the film is very well acted and directed with Huppert exuding expressionless controlled intensity, the underlying story seems somehow worn, unoriginal, and lacking the psychodynamics required for audience satisfaction. Recommended only for Huppert fans and aficionados of French cinema. (B-)

Isabelle Huppert is as beautiful as ever, but it is hard to see why her character does the things she does in this confused tale of cross-generational lovers. As a middle-aged businesswoman, Huppert takes a much younger bisexual bartender/hustler into her home, pays his debts, buys him clothes. He never seems to treat her well enough to justify her generosity, and he never seems interesting or lovable enough to justify her affection. It all comes unravelled eventually, after enough nude love scenes to keep most of the audience awake most of the time.

This film is near the top of my list for best films out of France. It is a superb production. The scenes between Dominique (Isabelle Huppert) and Quentin (Vincent Martinez) are completely convincing with natural conversation and sensitive mood changes. While the disparity of ages between lovers is not a new theme, it has never been handled more expertly than here where the older woman wants to "possess" the young call-boy but he is determined to remain a free spirit. What is so arresting in this story is that we know so little about the characters and their past. But information is gleaned bit by bit from their conversations, and never very much, so we hunger for more as the story unfolds. The dewy-eyed Isabelle Huppert in the final scenes reveals her talent as a fine actress. A wonderful piece of cinema that holds you to the end...and what an ending when the two characters realize that their dream has ended and they now face the harsh realities of life.

Director Benoît Jacquot (Right Now) has taken a script by Jacques Fieschi, based on a Japanese novel by Yukio Mishima, added superstar Isabelle Huppert (The Piano Teacher) and Vincent Martinez, in his first acting role to give us an interesting and satisfying look at the older woman/younger man romance.

While having a younger man was satisfying for Dominique (Huppert), the effort to keep him was physically and emotionally exhausting. It did not help that Quentin (Martinez) earned a living being available to men as well.

Huppert is a guarantee for a good show, and she can act, too - a satisfying combination.